Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his Adelaide declaration that he has done everything that he possibly can for Australian families, including those paying $1.60 a litre for petrol. Does the Prime Minister agree with his Treasurer’s declaration that Australian families are happy after the government’s budget?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think what the Australian people want of their government, and would be happy to have from their government, is responsible economic management. I think what the Australian people would want and be happy about is a government prepared to look to the long term rather than the short term. I think what they would be happy about is a government prepared to deliver a $22 billion surplus as opposed to those prepared to conduct a $22 billion raid on that surplus. Australian people understand that you must put downward pressure on interest rates and, through that, put downward pressure on inflation. That means ensuring that you have a responsible course of economic action. It also means that you are serious about the undertakings you have given to working Australians, working families, those doing it tough, about the cost-of-living pressures that they face, including rents, mortgage rates, child care, petrol, as well as grocery costs. Put all of those things together and families are under pressure. That is why this government has been so determined to implement this pre-election commitment of an assistance package for families in the order of $55 billion—including tax cuts, including a childcare rebate, and including, on top of that, an education tax refund—as well as payments in excess by a country mile of those delivered by those opposite in their last budget to both pensioners and carers. These are the practical measures that not only assist with delivering a decent bottom line for the overall budget surplus but also provide a decent outcome for working families so that they can deal with some of the pressures they face. This does not represent a silver bullet for their overall economic challenges and challenges to each week’s budget; it does represent a helping hand on the way through. The reason we have commissioned the Henry commission of inquiry is to do just that: to look at long-term approaches to the reform of our taxes, to income support systems and, of course, to the retirement income system.