Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

This is exactly relevant to why the government introduced a raft of measures designed to protect the Australian economy. It introduced these measures, which were designed deliberately and specifically to protect the Australian economy, because of the irresponsibility of those opposite. Those opposite have not just advocated a hole of $6.4 billion but, in the last two weeks, have started advocating an even greater hole in the size of the budget surplus. They want to block the surplus and spend it at the same time. It is just more of the same. You cannot spend a surplus you do not have.

I heard the former Treasurer on radio last Friday saying that he would be willing to help out the shadow Treasurer with some advice. As it happens, I have dug up a little advice from the former Treasurer that would not go astray right now. This is what the member for Higgins said:

If you spend surpluses, you don’t have surpluses.

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... if you spend a surplus, what you’ve got is a deficit.

The Rudd government has done the hard yards in the budget to make room to provide relief for families and to fund vital investments in the future. That is the responsible thing to do. Those opposite have shown that they will always put their own interests before the interests of Australian families. Given the choice between responsible economic management— (Time expired)