Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr President. We always have to remind ourselves that the Labor Party, in 2007, inherited a strong economy and a strong budget with no government net debt, a $20 billion surplus and money in the bank. The government was collecting more than $1 billion a year in net interest payments. We are now having to pay $12 billion just for the interest on the debt that Labor has accumulated. We inherited $191 billion of deficits in Labor's first five budgets, another $123 billion in the projected deficits in Labor's last budget, and debt is heading for $676 billion without corrective action. The good news is that this government is turning the situation around. We are reducing the deficits before going back into surplus and we are paying off and reducing Labor's debt. (Time expired)