Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Peter Costello and John Howard only had $96 billion worth of Labor debt to deal with. We have got $667 billion worth of Labor debt to deal with. I am full of admiration for John Howard and Peter Costello. They were great leaders of this country, but these times are different. The challenges that we have inherited, from a much worse Labor government than the one that they succeeded, are much bigger. We will rise to these challenges, and we well fix the fiscal hole that we have inherited.

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