Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I would refer the member for North Sydney to the fact that in the budget of 2008 there was a total of $33 billion worth of savings measures put in place by the government over the forward estimates. In the budget of 2009 there was a further $22 billion worth of savings measures put in place over the forward estimates. The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook papers were released towards the end of last year. They are, in effect, a mid-term report on the budget. For the first time ever there were savings initiatives in those Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook papers to cover off new spending initiatives that were announced over that period. Finally, I would make the observation to the member for North Sydney that one of the reasons why we had a big task in front of us to find savings in the 2008 budget was that—

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