Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

As I said, good budget management does require some difficult decisions. We saw that in the last budget and we saw that again in the mid-year review. But, of course, the alternative is a series of unfunded, unaffordable, undeliverable promises from those opposite. The real story of what is happening in the coalition is that they are having to walk away from a surplus. They are having to walk away from support of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. They have had to walk away from tax cuts because they know they cannot balance the books. So, instead of properly funded, properly costed policies, they have come up with a new one. They call it an 'aspiration'—a budget aspiration; a policy aspiration that you kind of hope about but you never actually have to fund. That is what your election promise will be: an aspiration. (Time expired)