Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

Let us just cut to the chase. Labor is in deficit and debt denial. They know there is a budget problem. Do you know why they know there is a budget problem? It is because they created it. When they came to office in 2007, the budget was $20 billion in surplus and Australia had $50,000 million in the bank. In just six years Labor destroyed that golden legacy. They did it by spending more than they earned, wasting billions on pink batts and overpriced school halls. The Labor Party seems to have no appreciation of how much $1 billion is. Let me put it this way: a million seconds is about 11 days; a billion seconds is more than 31 years. A billion is a very big number indeed. Labor left behind projected deficits of $123 billion and projected debts of $667 billion. Let me tell you, if you converted that into seconds, it would be more than 21,000 years. The Labor Party might laugh about this but it is no joke. Government debt means higher pressure on the cost of living. Government debt means fewer jobs. Government debt means less money for services that the Australian people need. Debt means every single Australian suffers and that is why we as a government are seeking to reverse the position to ensure that there is a secure and sustainable future for our fellow Australians.