David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The () (): My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on the progress the coalition government has made in addressing the debt and deficit legacy of the former government?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Banks for his question and I can inform him and the parliament that tomorrow the government will release the Intergenerational Report, which has been prepared by experts in Treasury. It details the economic challenges that Australia will face over the next 40 years. It is, if you like, Madam Speaker, the fiscal road map for the next four decades. The Intergenerational Report presents three projections. The first is: what would happen to the budgetary position under the policies that this government inherited? The second is: what would happen to the budgetary position under the structural reforms that this government proposed last year? And the third is: what would happen to the budgetary position under the measures that have already been passed by this parliament?

I can inform the House that, under the policies of the former government, Commonwealth debt was soaring beyond 120 per cent of gross domestic product and the deficit was blowing out to 12 per cent of GDP. I can inform the House that, under the structural reforms proposed last year by this government, the budget would have fairly quickly returned to substantial surplus and stayed there for 35 years. Under the measures passed so far by this parliament, the budget does in fact get close to surplus and ongoing deficits are halved—ongoing deficits are halved from the levels of the policies of the members opposite would have delivered.

Not only is this government serious about economic reform, but we have very significantly and substantially delivered the budget repair that we pledged to deliver at the election. This is one of the many grounds for confidence in our economy; it is one of the many grounds for optimism about our nation's prospects. There are very strong grounds for optimism about the Australian economy. Interest rates are low and stable; petrol prices are at their lowest levels in years; power prices have had the biggest fall on record; the dollar is low and competitive; and, above all else, there is a government which is open for business and which takes economic reform seriously. You have a government that has abolished the carbon tax, abolished the mining tax, delivered $2 billion red tape savings to business and has finalised three free trade agreements, which had defeated previous governments for a decade. No wonder, Madam Speaker, jobs growth is now three times the rate that it was under members opposite. You have export volumes up seven per cent, housing approvals up nine per cent, retail trade up four per cent. Thanks to good government, confidence is returning to our economy.