Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

and they do not care about the collapse in construction, which we seek to deal with through the construction program that will come off the back of the primary schools investment program. They do not care about any of that, because they are driven by a political strategy that is all about deficit and debt. Those opposite need to reflect on this in a moment of intellectual honesty, which is getting harder and harder for them to do.

Firstly, as the Treasurer indicated, there has been a $125 billion collapse in government revenues. Given that that has occurred and that it is a global phenomenon, I ask those opposite if they would borrow to fill that gap? If you say you would not borrow to fill that gap, there are two courses of action available to you: to cut government expenditure by that equivalent amount—that is, $125 billion—or to increase taxes by an equivalent amount. Which is it—you can borrow it, you can increase taxes or you can cut expenditure? Those opposite refuse to provide an honest intellectual answer. If you are going to balance your budget, every government in the world has those three options in these economic circumstances.

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