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

I thank the honourable member for his question. Last night the Treasurer handed down the budget—a commitment to the values and the plan we took to the last election, in 2016. It is a plan that delivers on those commitments to drive a stronger economy to support Australian business and to support Australian jobs. It will deliver tax relief for small and medium businesses, which employ more than six million Australians; record investment in hospitals and schools; more affordable childcare; more affordable medicines, so many of those medicines are life-saving medicines; the roads and rail to get Australians home sooner and safer and bust congestion; and, of course, all of the resources that our vital services need—schools, education, health, the PBS and Medicare. That is all enabled by a stronger economy with more jobs.

As I said in my previous answer, we cannot forget that last year we saw record jobs growth—the most jobs created in Australia in our history—and we're continuing to see a thousand jobs added every single day. None of that's happened by accident. The opposition would have us believe that Australia has grown simply because the global economy has. We have made our own luck. Australians have made their own luck. Remember, in 2011-12, when Labor was in government, when global economic growth was stronger than it is today, when commodity prices were much higher than they are today, Labor trashed the budget with one bigger deficit after another because of their addiction to spending.

The fact is you need to have the policies that enable you to take advantage of a stronger global economy, and that's what we have put in place. It means we can guarantee the services Australians rely on and we can return the budget to balance sooner, and what that means is that we will not be throwing a growing mountain of debt onto the shoulders of our children and grandchildren. Net debt peaks this year as a share of GDP, turning the corner on debt. Labor sent us down a dangerous road on debt, and we have now turned back in the right direction to ensure that we bring the budget back into balance and bring that mountain of debt down.

The budget the Treasurer delivered last night delivers tax relief for working Australians so they can keep more of the money they earn, their money. An average income earner will have $530 in their pocket from next year. For a family—two parents, two income earners—that's over a thousand dollars. That is a great support for that family in these times of rising living costs. (Time expired)

See this speech in context