Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Deputy Chairman , Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Hansard source

That was the debt story. It was Labor's debt story of $96 billion; our story of paying off that debt. Remember when debt was paid off and money was being banked there was a guy called the member for Griffith—who is still here in this House—as the Leader of the Opposition saying that he was a fiscal conservative and he believed in surplus budgets. Then the Labor government was elected. What has happened since? Have they produced a surplus budget? No.

Ms Rishworth interjecting—

Don't you worry, we will go all through the years. Let us have a look at what has happened since. It started with $45 billion in the bank. Net debt is now projected to be $144 billion or $145 billion. Let us look at how accurate they are. Let us judge them on their precision. For the member for Kingston up the back, let us just take the last two years. Do you agree the GFC is over?

Ms Rishworth interjecting—

No, sorry; not on the talking points. That was a question without notice. Let us take the last two years. It is helpful that you do that. Let us just start from the end of the last election. The mid-year update was brought out in December 2011. It is worth having a look at what the Treasurer said debt would be for the 2012-13 year, what it would peak at. Back then, this is under two years ago, the Treasurer said, 'Net government debt would peak at $93 billion.' About six months later, in the budget of last year, he said it would peak at about $104 billion in the 2012-13 year. Then at the mid-year update at the end of last year he said $133 billion. This year's budget it is $143 billion. So from $93 billion to $143 billion—what is a $50 billion blow-out in two years? If you compare it with the debt blow-out in the last five or six years of the Keating government, where net government debt went from something like $17 billion to $96 billion, that is just a blow-out of about $79 billion or $80 billion.

You start to get the picture. Net government debt just escalates under Labor every single year. It is escalating today. You do not have to just look at their inaccuracy on net government debt projections; look at the last financial year. Over a similar period the initial projection for the budget deficit was $12 billion, then $22 billion, then $37 billion, then $44 billion on budget night. I do not have the final number yet; we will be getting it any day. I have to say that, if these guys were playing basketball, they would miss the backboard. If they were kicking for goal in an AFL match, they would hit the interchange bench. They would be out of camera shot.

It reminds me of an infamous aviator who filed a flight plan in the 1930s to fly, I think, from New York to California. He filed the flight plan, took off and landed in Ireland. His name was Wrong Way Corrigan. I am being a bit cruel to Wrong Way Corrigan because it transpired later that he actually meant to go in a different direction. It was all a bit of a trick.

But in relation to debt—$144 billion—we have had a $50 billion blow-out in two years. And now we have a $120 billion black hole blow-out. Those opposite will announce spending plans but they will not announce how they are paid for. It is always the same way under Labor: escalating debt and more taxes. It is the same way. When was Labor's last budget surplus?

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