Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every single day, the government is spending $100 million more than it collects in revenue due to the fiscal irresponsibility and economic vandalism of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd governments. The budget is not expected to be back in surplus until 2019-20—two elections from now—and, on current projections, by 2023-24, the nation's gross debt will be $499 billion or 19.4 per cent of GDP. This will see taxpayers fork out $14 billion a year in interest alone—up from the $10.8 billion we are already paying to service Labor's debt.

Governments, like individuals, need to live within their means and, in order to do that, we have to reduce spending. It is as simple as that. Those opposite cannot recognise that. However, 86 per cent of what the government spends relies on legislation. So if you want to reduce spending you have to change legislation. And here lies the problem: The Labor controlled Senate and will not support our plan to fix the budget mess that Labor created. Labor's outright refusal to take responsibility for the budget crisis has led to occasions of rank hypocrisy—which would be laughable were it not so serious for our children's future and the future of this country.

For example, this week, the Minister for Finance announced that the government had secured another important budget saving in the Senate, with the successful passage of the Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2013. This measure was initiated and banked by Wayne Swann and the Gillard Labor government in their 2013-14 budget but never legislated; yet, now in opposition Labor opposed their own savings. As I have said, Labor's hypocrisy would be laughable were the implications not so serious, and this example is no exception. If this Labor saving had failed to pass the Senate it would have cost the budget $1.35 billion over the current forward estimates. Labor created this mess and now they are stopping us fixing it. For as long as Labor's deficits continue debt will continue to rise. Unless we take action, debt will rise to $677 billion within 10 years. That would mean every man, woman and child in Australia would be shouldered with around $25,000 worth of debt in less than a decade from now.

This month, the Governor of the Reserve Bank and the new head of Treasury delivered a dire warning that if the government's spending cuts were blocked by Labor in the Senate, if they were not passed, then the budget is at risk of never getting back to surplus. As the Prime Minister said in question time this week, in the Senate Labor is standing in the way of $28 billion worth of savings. Where negotiations over passage of the government's legislation have been delayed or impeded in the Senate, the budget has been slugged with a $10.6 billion cost. Despite the Senate being obstructive, the government is committed to the task of budget repair and will continue to pursue savings in a fair and sensible way.

So far, the government has managed to implement a raft of measures that are making a difference to people's lives by lowering the cost of living and making Australia more prosperous. Australia's debt will be $170 billion lower than it would have been under Labor, as a result of last year's budget announcements. The average family now is saving $190 a month extra because we have scrapped the carbon tax, because petrol prices are lower and because interest rates are at a new record low of 2.25 per cent.

Over 200,000 jobs were created last year. That is more than triple the rate under Labor in their last year of government. This equates to around 585 new jobs created each day or a new job every 2½ minutes. In 2014, there were over 223,000 new companies registered in Australia, an increase of 10.2 per cent of what we saw in 2013. That means almost an extra 21,000 companies were created in 2014 compared to 2013, which is a record since ASIC company registrations records began in 1999.

As you can see, despite Labor's best efforts, we are getting on with our economic plan. We have scrapped the carbon tax and the mining tax and we are reducing red tape and unshackling business. We are getting the budget on a credible path back to surplus. Yet there is, of course, much more work to be done. No-one is denying that. But in order to put the budget back in surplus so that our children are not paying for Labor's economic mismanagement, we desperately need the opposition to get out of the way and to support our reforms so that we can right the wrongs of their time in government. The stakes could not be higher. If Labor does not rapidly alter its ways soon, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Australia could end up going down same way as Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.

Labor should be ashamed of that. For our future and for our children's future I urge the Labor Party to do what is in the best interest of this country and let the government get on with the job before it is too late for all of us. I urge the Labor Party not to hide behind what they are doing now, where they are trying to rip us apart on legislation. Get out of the way, get your heads out of the sand and let us get on with the job.

Debate interrupted; adjournment proposed and negatived.