Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

When I first read the subject of the MPI before the House today, I have to confess that I caught my breath. I caught my breath because the matter before the House is quite extraordinary. The opposition is lecturing the government on listening and fairness.

I want to cite two examples straight up of where the opposition, when they were in government, failed to listen. The first is the carbon tax, where they had a complete tin ear. They refused to abolish the carbon tax, which was costing the average household more than $550 a year and was costing business because it imposed increased costs on them, which they then passed on to consumers—which meant lower unemployment.

The second example is border protection. They refused to listen to the Australian people on border protection, both in government and in opposition. They opposed our measures that provided for a fairer system of border protection, where people who are sitting in camps now have a chance to get to Australia rather than paying people smugglers. Also, some people, sadly, lost their lives through their measures.

Now there is a third example, and that is fixing the mess that Labor left us with—fixing the budget mess that we inherited from Labor. Of course, Labor is opposing this as well. We can all remember that the previous coalition government delivered surpluses and had money in the bank. I do not need to remind people here that the Labor government delivered $191 billion worth of cumulative deficits and $123 billion worth of deficits over the forward estimates through their projections. They delivered structural spending of ever-increasing proportions. In fact, over their six years in government they increased spending by more than 50 per cent. Each Australian is currently sharing $13,500 of the debt that they created. Without this government taking action in this place, within 10 years the amount of debt that each Australian will be sharing will be just under $25,000.

We know that the Labor Party are in denial because they created this mess. But not all of the people who have been associated with Labor are in denial. I quote Dr John Edwards, an RBA board member appointed by the former Treasurer, Wayne Swan, and former Paul Keating principal economic adviser. He said: 'I’ve no doubt there is a budget crisis. We’re accumulating debt as a higher share of GDP and of course in absolute terms it's absolutely astronomical compared to far more serious episodes in Australian history, including recoveries from serious recessions.' Those are not our words but his words, uttered on 17 June 2014.

How are we actually addressing this problem? We are doing it in two ways in this budget. We are reducing the growth in spending and we are reducing debt. Why are we doing it? We are doing it because it is the right thing to do and the fair thing to do. There are many dimensions to fairness. The truth is that Labor's previous budget settings were both irresponsible and unfair. With the problems of the ageing population on the horizon, and despite high terms of trade and uninterrupted economic growth, the Labor government still managed to deliver substantial deficits and add to ever-increasing significant debt. In short, Labor shifted the burden of financing the spending programs for the Australians of 2007 to 2013 to future generations of Australians. I ask: Is that fair? Worse, they locked in unsustainable and unfunded future spending programs. Is this fair? The answer is: absolutely not. It is not fair for future generations of Australians to pay for the spending of yesterday and also to pay for potential future economic shocks and not be protected against that. The RBA Governor, in a recent hearing, actually said it was prudent and sensible for us to put Australia on a sustainable path because of the potential for future economic shocks. Those that really pay for the future economic shocks are those people who are least able to afford it. Those are the people who do not have savings. Is it fair to ask them to pay for this, as well? The answer is: it is not. That is why we are taking the measures that are necessary to put Australia on a strong and sustainable footing for the future.

See this speech in context