Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer confirm that next financial year gross debt is forecast to be $100 billion higher than when the Liberal government was elected?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Gross debt next year, in relation to the member's question, in 2015-16 is $415 billion. In 2016-17 it will be $477 billion. Net debt, which I know the shadow Treasurer sometimes gets confused with gross debt, next year is $285.8 billion and $313.4 billion.

It is higher, and the reason for that, as we know, is because the tail of structural expenditure increases that we inherited from those opposite will see, in particular, net debt rise to 80 per cent of GDP next year, in 2016-17. And after that it will fall. It will actually fall. And I will tell you why it will fall, Mr Speaker. The reason it will fall is because this government has a program to ensure we get control of expenditure. Expenditure as a percentage of GDP will decline over the forward estimates because we have a plan to control expenditure.

Those opposite have $50 billion and more in unaccounted-for fiscal promises and things they say they are going to change and put back in. They have a budget black hole of over $50 billion. It is $57 billion in total net terms. So when those opposite talk about education spending and talk about health spending, they need to start explaining to the Australian people how they are going to pay for those.

It is very clear how we are paying for our promises. The social services minister has a clear plan to pay for how we are going to support child care being more affordable for Australian families. We have a plan to better use the family tax payment bundle of funds and reorganise that so we can pay for increased affordable child care for Australian families. That is how you do it; you actually make savings to make important investments in areas where Australian families want to see important services delivered.

That is what the government is doing. What they are doing over there, no-one has any idea.