Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

As we know, those opposite doubled the debt before the pandemic and have left the Australian people with a trillion dollars in debt, with so little to show for it. But, most importantly, and Australians came to understand this, they treated taxpayers' money like it was Liberal Party or National Party money, trying to buy votes instead of building value for the country.

Since coming into government, what we know is that the global economic environment is significantly more volatile than it was just a few months ago, whether it's global challenges weighing on household budgets and the economy or cost-of-living pressures which have resulted as a consequence. We have also seen, as I said before, the cost of servicing government debt increase. In fact, revisions in the cost of interest payments on your debt as well as the NDIS are also placing pressure on the budget, unrelated to any policy decision of the government. (Time expired)