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

I thank Senator Fawcett for the supplementary question. The choice for the Senate is clear, really. Either we stay on Labor's expressway to more debt and deficits or we turn the situation around and build a stronger, more prosperous economy where everyone can get ahead and where we can get the budget back into balance. Of course, we know that the previous Labor Treasurer, Wayne Swan, used to sell the virtues of surplus budgets. Every year he would promise us another couple of budget surpluses. 'The surplus years are here', he would say, and then he would deliver another couple of deficits. Of course, the Labor Party has not delivered a surplus budget since 1990. The Labor Party has not delivered a surplus budget in 24 years. This Senate needs to join the government in helping us fix the budget mess that we have inherited so that we can strengthen the future for our children. (Time expired)