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

I completely reject the premise of that question, and I completely reject the assertion that is made in that question. What I will confirm is that the government continues to work hard to put Australia on a stronger foundation for the future. The government continues to work hard to protect living standards and to create better opportunities for the future. The government continues to work hard to ensure that the funding for the important benefits and services that the government provides for people across Australia is affordable and sustainable within the economy of the medium to long term—because the situation that we inherited from Labor was completely unsustainable. The problem was that—under Labor—if we stayed on that trajectory, we would be continuing to live at the expense of our children and grandchildren. We would continue to put our hands into the pockets of our children and grandchildren and fund our lifestyle today at their expense. We do not think that is fair. We think it is important that the funding and the spending of government is actually affordable, and that we get back to surplus as soon as possible— (Time expired)