Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to her failure to answer a question from the Leader of the Opposition. I ask her again: does the Prime Minister stand by her promise to deliver a budget surplus this year?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I see that I have goaded the opposition into raising economic matters, so that is an achievement for the day. To the shadow Treasurer, I echo the words from the day that the Treasurer delivered the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. He spoke about our plan, our determination, to deliver a budget surplus, because that is what our economy requires now, when he delivered a MYEFO. It speaks about the projections of our economy for trend growth. It speaks about the strength of our economy, about low unemployment, low inflation, strong public finances, AAA credit rated, and how, in those circumstances, a surplus is the right policy for the nation. I refer the shadow Treasurer to the words of the Treasurer, on the day we delivered MYEFO, and I suggest to the shadow Treasurer that he actually try—

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, on a point of order: I asked the Prime Minister about her words. Does the Prime Minister guarantee a surplus this year? Yes or no?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The shadow Treasurer may not have been listening, but I have just been dealing with his question. I have been referring him to the words of the Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer, where he dealt with this in detail when we launched the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. What I would say to the shadow Treasurer is, rather than bluster in a desperate attempt to pretend that the opposition has got anything like an economic policy, what he might be better off doing is explaining to the Australian people the acute contradiction between his age-of-entitlement speech and what he said about the baby bonus. And he can explain to the Australian people—

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Prime Minister will return to the question.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On budget matters he can explain to the Australian people his plan to rip the schoolkids bonus off every Australian family and make them thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars worse off. Talk about forgotten families!—the shadow Treasurer has forgotten them, that is for sure.