Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

I gather Senator Murray was helping Senator Allison ask her question because he thinks I did not understand Senator Allison’s question—the question about cakes and treasurers and surpluses. If the question is: ‘What will the government do at the next election with respect to its commitments to the Australian people in the next term of government?’ well, I am sure the Prime Minister will make any such commitments he desires to make at the relevant time. What we are presenting here is the government’s budget for the financial year coming and the forward estimates for the next four years. This is our plan to manage the Australian economy and Australian government finances for the next financial year, and the forward estimates for the three financial years after that.

We have extraordinarily transparent financial accounts in this country—you can see exactly where the money comes from, where it is going and what is left over by way of surpluses. We are a government that runs surpluses, unlike those opposite or those in the states that run deficits and have to borrow money in order to fund their expenditures. We live within our means; the others do not. (Time expired)