Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Senator Wong. I refer the minister to the fact that the government's stock of outstanding debt has grown by $5 billion since the beginning of this financial year to a gross total now of $239 billion, an increase of almost $180 billion in additional debt since this Labor government was elected. The government has promised to deliver a surplus of $1½ billion, so can the minister explain why the government has increased its borrowings by over $5 billion in the past seven weeks?