Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

In the last five years of the unlamented, departed coalition government, real spending growth reached 3.7 per cent. There is a beautiful set of numbers, as a former Prime Minister would have said—us, one per cent real spending growth; them, 3.7 per cent real spending growth. You cannot trust those people with the cash registers.

Then we get to savings. We have made $100 billion in savings since we have been in power and all you can do, when we put up the savings gold medal, is choose to come not second or third—you want to be right at the back of the queue. You want to look at a $10.6 billion black hole.

Then we look at the tax-to-GDP ratio. This is a number which the opposition conveniently overlooks, because the opposition are the great myth makers of Australian politics. They say one thing and they do something else. The tax-to-GDP ratio is Commonwealth tax receipts as a proportion of Australian economic activity. Let me put it in context. We are taking 21. 8 per cent of GDP or, to put it another way—

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