Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Three years ago my predecessor as shadow Treasurer responded in the MPI the day after the budget and he warned about growing debt and deficit and what a Liberal-National Party would do about it. He announced that to the House. Who would have thought that three years later—with the member for North Sydney retired to Washington to fight the age of entitlement from the ambassador's residence and replaced by the member for Cook—the member for North Sydney's successor as the Liberal-National Party Treasurer announces a budget which sees a deficit that the member for North Sydney forecast for this year tripled under a Liberal-National Party government, and a Liberal-National Party Premier outlines a budget balance off in the distance that is based on very optimistic presumptions and forecasts, and the budget sees Australia's net debt increase by $109 billion, from $217 billion to $326 billion. That is this government's idea of dealing with debt and deficit.

Is it any wonder that the Treasurer was asked this morning on radio whether the debt and deficit disaster was over and whether the budget emergency was over? He was very agile and nimble in his response, as you would understand. He said, 'That's a tired old argument.' 'That's old politics,' said the Treasurer. Of course, it is pretty difficult. He could hardly say that it was over with those figures. He could hardly say, with his unfunded and uncosted taxing plans and plans in his budget, that it was over. The Treasurer was caught out.

Even the figures that I just outlined in terms of debt and deficit are based on very optimistic forecasts from the Treasurer. Nominal growth, the most important growth measure in terms of impact on government revenue, is predicted to jump from 2½ per cent this year to 4.25 five per cent next year, and then five per cent over the forward estimates. Well, that is a relief. I am sure honourable members are relieved to hear that everything is okay. Nominal growth is going to just rocket up and fix the budget.

I read that forecast last night in the budget. I thought: 'That sounds familiar. I've read similar figures to that in the past.' I got out last year's budget from our old friend the former member for North Sydney and I found that he was forecasting nominal growth this year of 3.25 per cent, which was revised down to 2½ per cent, and 5.5 per cent for 2016-17, which is now revised down as well.

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