Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The Labor government has introduced its sixth budget. As we say, we have grave concerns about that budget. It has betrayed the trust of the Australian people because on more than 500 occasions the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and a range of others in the government promised a surplus. This year that promise has been broken. There will be no surplus this year. There will be no surplus next year. There will be no surplus the year after. A balance will be delivered in 2016. If anyone is around four years time, that will be when Labor delivers its first budget surplus—after what was previously described as a 'temporary' deficit in 2008. If a temporary deficit in 2008 looks like being seven deficits in a row, that would have made World War II very temporary. It went for six years—less than the deficit period of the Labor Party. But still their bravado, their chutzpah shows no limit.

I could not believe this. I had to reread it and then I sourced the document. The Treasurer on 22 May last week at a doorstop in Melbourne said:

No other government in our history has done what we have done in this recent Budget, …

He is right. I do not dispute that. No-one has done what this Treasurer has done in the recent budget! He is absolutely right. But then it gets better. He continued:

… which is bring the Budget back to surplus—

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