Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I remind the Prime Minister of the July 2010 economic statement, in which she promised Australians that the net debt would peak this year at less than $90 billion. With net debt at the end of December 2012 already at $164 billion, almost twice the peak level promised, why should anyone believe that this government will ever pay off the record net debt that it has run up in just five years? (Time expired)

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

I thank the Leader of the National Party for his question. I would say a number of things to the Leader of the National Party on his question. No. 1, the Leader of the National Party would need to recognise, as the opposition does more generally, the nature of the revenue write-downs that have occurred. We have spoken in this parliament before about these revenue write-downs, which are in part some overhang from the global financial crisis, and in part a result of the strength of the Australian dollar and the various pressures that it is bringing to bear in the Australian economy. We obviously had a period, too, where we saw a reduction in commodity prices. Those things do effect revenue, and that is plain for all to see.

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

The revenue is going up!

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

The shadow Treasurer is interjecting. If the shadow Treasurer wishes to be taken seriously at any point in this debate then he should be producing his plan, his alternate budget. There are more resources available to the opposition to do that work than has ever before been available to any opposition in the history of this parliament, but, despite that, the Leader of the Opposition and this opposition in general have not produced a policy, since 2010, that has in it proper costings and proper savings to match—not once, not ever.

Then, on the question of budgets, the Leader of the National Party ought to recognise that, yes—and the government has been very clear about this—in line with our fiscal strategy, we are asking the nation to take some tough decisions and to make some tough choices. What we find when we bring those choices to the parliament is, on the one hand, the opposition comes into the parliament and rails about the need to get back to surplus. Then, on the other hand, they come in here and exercise their votes to prevent reasonable and legitimate savings. In the court of public opinion, how, anywhere, can this possibly add up? On the one hand, they rail and say there must be a surplus and they are really in favour of a surplus soon. Then, on the other hand, they come into this parliament and say, 'Savings? Not for me; I won't ever support a saving—never, ever support a saving.'

The most embarrassed person about all of this is, of course, not the Leader of the National Party; it is the shadow Treasurer, who goes overseas and gives speeches about the end of the age of entitlement and looks to the press gallery to get big runs about what a deep thinker he is. Then, here in this parliament, he gets rolled by his party colleagues on a sensible savings measure—rolled by his party colleagues. With that kind of track record internally, the news for the Leader of the National Party is he ought to be directing his attention to the incompetence and confusion on his own side. (Time expired)