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

There is nothing unusual about the government lifting the borrowing limit, nothing at all. I am going to cite an unusual authority who is backing us up on this. I am going to cite Senator Barnaby Joyce, who has already backed lifting the borrowing limit. It is just common sense. We are bringing our budget back into the black in 2012-13. We will pay down debt and we will also have a conversation with the Australian community, the parliament and the financial markets about what we will do in terms of a deep and liquid bond market. These are all questions associated with this very important part of economic management. There is nothing new about it. It has been known for ages. It was flagged in the mid-term review, it was in all the budget papers on budget night and it was announced to the House by the Assistant Treasurer, but those people opposite are so incompetent they know nothing about it.

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