Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

In g ross debt, it's $1.7 trillion, and that is near the end of the medium term , in 2030. But I want to emphasis e to the member for Rankin that, obviously, these are projections across the medium term, and what we're focused on is getting more people into work because that is the way that you can repair the budget. And we were able to spend as was necessary through this crisis because we approached it from a position of economic strength, because we delivered the first balanced budget in 11 years, because we saw welfare dependency at a 30-year low and because, when we came to government, unemployment was at 5.7 per cent, but in February, ahead of the crisis, it was at 5.1 per cent. So the measures that we have taken over the last six and a bit years have strengthened the balance sheet of the country so that we could respond to this crisis, and that has allowed us to help save 700,000 jobs. I repeat, for the member for Rankin, that the budget last night makes it very clear that, but for the measures we have taken and announced, the unemployment rate would've reached 12 per cent and been sustained at that level this year and next year. So last night's budget was all about jobs—helping those who are out of a job get into a job and helping those who are in work today stay in work. This is an economic crisis like Australia has never seen before, and our measures are designed to help those Australians in need.

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