Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I again thank the honourable member for the question. The fact of the matter is, as she well knows, that this government, as indeed any responsible government would have to do, is seeking to ensure that we live within our means, that we continue to provide a generous social welfare net to those who need it, that we do so in a manner that restores the budget to balance over the cycle and that we do so in a manner that ensures the economy can grow to deliver the jobs and opportunity upon which our prosperity and, may I say so, the revenues which enable the social welfare safety net. All of that depends on growth. It depends on responsible budget management. It depends on governments making tough and careful decisions to ensure that we get the best outcome from the public's expenditure. That is what we will seek to do. If the opposition wants to be credible on this issue, what it should be doing is presenting its plans to pay for the cuts that it does not approve of and to pay for the spending that it proposes. It fails to do that and, in doing so, undermines the credibility of every claim and every question. Government cannot any longer be a 'spendathon'. That was the Labor way. It is a way to ruin.

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