Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How is fixing the budget an important part of the government's plan to build a stronger economy for all Australians?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question and recognise that it is hugely important for the performance of the Australian economy that the government has control of its budget and it is hugely important that there be bipartisan agreement in trying to ensure that you actually fix some of the structural problems in the budget. So I am somewhat dismayed that, as we go into the new year, there has been no change in attitude from the Labor Party towards trying to repair the budget. You will recall that, in the last few months of last year, the Labor Party not only opposed $15 billion of savings that we took to the election to try and fix the budget; they decided to oppose $5 billion of their own savings that they took to the last election. So the Labor Party were not satisfied with ruining the budget in government; the Labor Party want to do even better in opposition.

These days I am very guarded about having anything to drink on New Year's Eve, because on 1 January there is always something that surprises you. On 1 January I opened up The Australian and it said: 'Hawke, Keating tell PM to slash spending.' Don't tell him; tell him, the Leader of the Opposition, because he had former Prime Minister Keating go to the caucus before Christmas and he wanted to share his wisdom, the Keating wisdom, about how to fix the budget. To his credit, PJK did in fact fix the budget. He started fixing the budget and then gave up hope and left us with a $10 billion black hole. But he did fix the budget. He had his own commission of audit in the late eighties, and he had a fiscal consolidation, because it had to happen. Then, in 1996, the coalition was elected and it had a commission of audit, and then it had to fix another problem that Labor left behind. So too, just before Christmas, the Minister for Finance and I revealed the true state of the budget left by Labor: $123 billion of deficits over the next four years, and not a deficit to be seen for a decade at least.

An honourable member: Surplus.

Not a surplus to be seen for a decade at least, but $667 billion of debt. So I say to the Labor Party: don't listen to me; don't listen to the Prime Minister; don't listen to the economists; don't listen to the Australian people. Why don't you listen to Bob Hawke and Paul Keating? They are telling you that now is the time to fix the budget, and it is.