Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

When I first saw today's MPI, I actually had to stop and reread it a couple of times. I did so because it was clearly difficult to comprehend how Labor could even string these words together without physically collapsing under the weight of their hypocrisy. I am sure that most Australians listening would agree with that and would shake their heads in utter disbelief. Then I thought maybe I was in a time warp; maybe I had been caught up and was somehow back in the last parliament—or even the parliament before that—because it was the budgets of the 42nd and 43rd parliaments that really brought home the bacon when it came to having an adverse impact on the Australian economy and on confidence. They were of a standard that eclipsed even the largesse and dodgy economics of the 1970s Whitlam era so beloved by those opposite and so lamented by the Australian taxpayers who lived through that dark time in the history of Australia.

Between 2008-09 and 2012-13, members opposite delivered a succession of budget deficits totalling $191 billion. The member for McMahon and the Leader of the Opposition were right there on the front bench all along, absolutely complicit in Labor's economic hatchet job. The figures do not lie. In less than six years Labor spent $191 billion dollars—191 thousand million dollars—most of it borrowed from overseas. What is worse, they left structural deficits totalling another $123 billion over the next four years. The fact is that Labor's budgets continue to have an adverse impact on the Australian economy day in and day out. They cost us $12 billion every single year in interest payments—more than $33 million every single day. That is $1,375,000 per hour, $22,917 per minute or $382 per second. So, in the time that it would take the Leader of the Opposition to draw breath, the debt that has been racked up in interest payments alone is over $1,000. That is a serious adverse impact on the economy and a massive drain on our nation. It is taxpayers' money wasted—money that we will not get back—and we continue, as taxpayers, to foot the bill for Labor's mismanagement. Imagine all the good we could do with $33 million a day, every day of the week. Instead we are borrowing money to pay back that debt—the interest on Labor's debt, which adds even more to the mess Labor left behind and which is an ongoing burden on our economy and our confidence.

But I am pleased to say the 2014-15 budget begins the repair job that is so necessary to change all that and ensure a stronger economy in the future. It is all about taking the tough decisions to rein in spending, invest in nation-building infrastructure and ensure continued economic growth. It is about working towards the surplus that Labor promised but never delivered.

While it is hard to believe from their recent actions that Labor used to think a balanced budget was a good thing, they did. After all, they promised a surplus all the time. Remember how many times Kevin Rudd promised a budget surplus during the 2007 election? Remember how Wayne Swan stood in this place, budget after budget, promising that Labor would return to surplus in the near future? Remember his last budget that was supposed to deliver just a sliver of a surplus? It ended up being a massive $50 billion deficit—a $50 billion hit to the economy. Talk about an adverse impact!

But at least Labor used to recognise that a balanced budget was worth aiming for, even if they always fell well short of the mark. Now Labor are eerily silent on balancing the budget. In fact, they are pretty much bereft of any plan to fix their budget mess to secure economic growth. If anything is having an adverse impact on the Australian economy and confidence, it is Labor's fearmongering about the budget. If anything is causing uncertainty, it is Labor irresponsibly blocking important savings measures in the Senate; it is Labor standing in the way of letting us clean up the mess they left behind. It is Labor refusing to scrap the carbon and mining taxes to boost confidence.

This eye-wateringly hypocritical MPI today really, truly sums up everything that is wrong with the 2014 version of the Labor Party. They just do not get it. They do not get how responsible government works. They do not get that debt and deficit is a drag on the economy. They do not get that a balanced budget is crucial for a stronger economy. They do not get that the tough measures they now oppose are necessary as a direct consequence of their own incompetence. Or perhaps they do get it, but they are just playing politics rather than acting in Australia's national interest. (Time expired)

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