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

This is simply part of the fiscal fearmongering by those opposite. The whole country knows that net debt here is low, it is small compared to net debt across other developed economies, at 11.4 per cent.

And it is not just the government that is saying these things. We have had the rating agencies commenting on the budget, which completely repudiates the line of attack that is coming from those opposite. This is what S&P had to say:

[The] government continues to demonstrate a commitment to prudent fiscal policy over the medium term. Given the low level of public debt …

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