Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great honour to rise to speak on this proposed expenditure. May I say up-front in relation to this year's budget that this is a budget that is both honest and practical. It is obviously honest about the challenges and choices we face as a nation and practical in what we can deliver to the Australian people. While Australia has consistently outperformed some of the largest advanced economies in the world, we just cannot take this remarkable run of growth for granted. As the Treasurer pointed out on budget night, we have to fight for every inch of growth. We have to show determination and resolve, and furthermore, if we are to stay the course, we must have a decisive plan of action. I can assure all Australians that this government, the Turnbull government, does have a decisive plan for action in these key criteria.

The budget, the next phase in the Turnbull government's national economic plan, provides this in four areas, starting firstly with, and focusing on, more and better-paying jobs. In pursuing this objective, we know that Australians benefit when small businesses have the right settings and when we build the critical infrastructure that our country needs—road, rail and runway infrastructure, invested not only in our big cities but also in our regions. This of course builds on the government's recent success in cutting taxes and red tape for small and medium-sized businesses; in opening up new opportunities through our export trade deals, most notably with China, Japan and Korea; as well as in our investment in innovation and defence industries.

However, the reality is that not all Australians feel they have shared in our nation's hard-won growth story, a growth story that now exceeds a quarter of a century. With many Australians frustrated and not getting ahead, we have moved in this year's budget to guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on, including health care, disability support, education and employment. At the same time, we realise that many Australians have not had a decent pay rise for a while. This can make life more challenging for many households in dealing with what seem to be ever-increasing expenses. That is why we have chosen to place downward pressure on the cost of living, with a strong focus on energy, child care and housing, three areas that we know, particularly for families, have been a pressure point in recent years.

To make sure that the budget supports growth that secures more and better-paying jobs, the government is maintaining a credible path of diminishing deficits each year, leading to a projected return to balance in 2021 with a budget surplus of some $7.4 billion. This will place Australia in a better position to withstand any future economic downturns. It will also reduce the need to increase taxes or to cut back on essential services if there comes a time when government needs to take action to support economic activity. By living within our means, the government will not burden future generations with debt from today's everyday spending. From 2018-19, debt will not be required to fund recurrent spending, for the first time since the GFC, and this will ultimately lead to a stronger and more resilient Australia.

In setting up our fiscal future, well-selected infrastructure investment can also improve productivity and increase economic growth, which in turn leads to more secure and better-paid jobs. The government realises that the budget commitments that we have made to road, rail and runway infrastructure will provide the catalyst necessary to improve the productivity in the economy, which will, most importantly, achieve this objective of the budget. So a fair and responsible path to a balanced budget underpins the Turnbull government's approach to harnessing change and navigating the ever-complex and evermore competitive global economic environment that every single Australian business will increasingly face. Above all, the budget ensures fiscal sustainability and economic growth for the next generation, without mortgaging that generation's future.

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