Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I was asked about questions of budgeting, of debt, and I am responding to that question. I am particularly responding to what would have made circumstances for this country worse. And what would have made circumstances for this country worse, if we want to talk about questions of debt, is the shadow Treasurer's approach to accounting. He claimed in the election campaign that he had $50 billion of savings. He ran out and spent $40 billion of them and then, of course, Treasury found an $11 billion black hole. As I am advised, if we were pursuing the course that the shadow Treasurer recommended then there would be a deficit at the bottom of every year in the forward estimates in this budget. If the shadow Treasurer does not agree with that contention, he has a great opportunity tonight to give the Leader of the Opposition a page of figures which shows what they would cut to get the budget into surplus a year earlier, as the shadow Treasurer has said that they are able to do. If he cannot give the Leader of the Opposition that page of figures, he has failed the test of credibility. And if he does not give the Leader of the Opposition that page of figures, then the Leader of the Opposition will stand tonight before the Australian people as a risk to the budget surplus, a risk to their cost of living and a risk to our future economy.

See this speech in context