Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The government is making the choice to keep our economy strong and to invest in our future. The Australian economy, by international standards, continues to perform extraordinarily well. We have a low debt-to-GDP ratio, one of the lowest in the developed world. We have strong employment, with the unemployment rate having a five at the front of it. Our economy has grown by 14 per cent since the global financial crisis, while Europe's economy has shrunk and the US economy has grown by just a couple of percentage points. The Australian stock market has grown strongly and the Australian economy is a standout performer on the international stage.

The government has recognised the challenges that the high Australian dollar places on our public finances. So the 2013-14 budget charts a pathway to return to balance in 2015-16 and to surplus by 2016-17, improving the sustainability of Australia's public finances and building on Australia's record of fiscal and economic strength. The priorities of the budget are providing schoolchildren with the opportunities to reach their full potential, with $9.8 billion invested in new school funding; providing support for people with severe and permanent disability through the historic $14.3 billion investment in DisabilityCare Australia; and providing critical infrastructure, as we heard in the previous portfolio's consideration in detail, with $24 billion of new investment in road and rail.

The budget charts a path to surplus, although the hit to revenues will see a budget deficit in 2013-14. The budget continues the government's record of identifying strategic savings rather than making savage cuts. While those opposite would cut back vital services that Australians depend on, while they would raise superannuation taxes on low-income workers, we on this side of the House have a different set of priorities. The coalition believe it is appropriate to take away money from children on their first day of school—

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