Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Polley for her question, because it is a very important question. During the election campaign, the Labor Party made it clear that we would deliver on our election promises and we would also be fiscally conservative in our approach to the management of the economy. What we have tried to do in delivering our first budget is to deliver on all those promises that we made to the Australian community, and it is interesting that they are really noticing the difference in approach.

As from 1 July, the tax cuts we promised will be delivered. As from 1 July, the increase in the childcare rebate will be delivered and the education rebate we offered to parents will be delivered. All the measures we promised will be delivered as part of our budget. As part of our approach, we made the decision that we needed to show fiscal responsibility. So we funded all our new spending commitments by savings and revenue measures. We made that very clear. That allowed us—