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

We simply could not go on under the policies of members opposite borrowing more and more every month because we were going deeper and deeper into deficit every month. This government has taken the tough decisions. We have made the hard decisions necessary to get the budget back under control and to bring the budget back into balance within four years. Someone had to do it. Members opposite have proven incapable of doing it. This government has done what this country needed to be done.

Notwithstanding all the changes that this government has made, we will continue to have a generous social security system. A sole parent with two dependents aged six to 13 years earning $60,000 a year in 2016-17 will get $8,348 from the taxpayer in social security benefits. So we are continuing to generously support the vulnerable families of this country. That is what the people expect of us, but we have got to do it in ways which are sustainable—and that was never going to happen under members opposite.

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