Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I certainly welcome the question, because the Rudd government’s first budget is a responsible budget—a responsible budget that builds a strong surplus. And there has been some favourable commentary from sensible analysts. So for the benefit of the House I thought I might run through some of that commentary. From Michael Blythe at the Commonwealth Bank:

The Budget ticks all the boxes in terms of the government’s medium-term fiscal strategy.

He went on:

The budget produces a larger surplus than the 1% of GDP projections with which the Coalition was comfortable. The emphasis has shifted from spending to savings. So, the ALP can now claim the mantle of fiscal conservatism.

And Mr Williamson from TD Securities said:

It looks to be a mildly restrictive budget, living up to the credo that they had of being an inflation-fighting budget ...

Rory Robinson from Macquarie Bank said:

It is a major restraint relative to the Whitlamesque five per cent growth estimated for this year—the Howard government’s final budget year.

He pinged them for very big spending! Of course, we have the shadow Treasurer’s former employer, Goldman Sachs; this is what they had to say:

After two years of notable conflict we finally have fiscal policy that is pushing in the same direction as monetary policy.

So I think it is pretty clear that the market thinks Tuesday night’s budget was a responsible budget. But what does the opposition have to say about this? The member for Wentworth fancies himself as an economic guru, so what does he have to say? This is what he had to say on budget night—

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