Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Given that the minister has raised the current state of the budget, I am going to ask him about a couple of the decisions this government has made and to confirm the effect on the bottom line. I think the lie, or the misleading position, that has been put by those opposite is a suggestion that nothing that has happened since they were elected has affected the budget. The reality is that they have made a number of decisions for more spending and to change tax arrangements, including tax minimisation arrangements that the previous government put in place, which have negatively affected the budget.

The minister does not want to talk about that and he certainly will not be providing information on that, but that is a decision that is very relevant to this debate. If you are going to campaign against debt and deficit and if you are going to say that the answer to debt is not more debt and then come into this place and say that you want to have more debt, I think you are obliged to provide the parliament and, through it, the Australian people with information about what you have done to effectively worsen the budget position since you have been in charge.

Can the minister confirm that the coalition's decision to provide an $8.8 billion grant to the Reserve Bank of Australia will add to the 2013-14 budget deficit?