Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

delivered the biggest deficit in Australia's history—a $54.5 billion deficit. Oops, oops! $54.5 billion out. How did that happen? That is bad Bowen. The good news from the Abbott government is: we have found a good Bowen—Phil Bowen, the Parliamentary Budget Officer. He is a good Bowen; he is a believable Bowen. He said in Senate estimates yesterday:

In relation to the current budget it is certainly necessary to get the deficit under control.

He also said:

This is not a situation that we can continue to live with over the longer term. … Increasing debt risks crowding out private sector investment and negatively impacting economic growth.

Good Bowen knows what he is talking about. He says you have to get the debt down; he says you have to get the deficit down; he says you have to create jobs; he says you have to create opportunity. That is a good Bowen; that is a Bowen that understands his facts; that is a Bowen that gets it right. Bad Bowen, unfortunately, leaves behind the Australian people, has no economic credibility and represents the very worst of the modern Labor Party.

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