Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

In relation to the surplus—and we are pleased to have the first surplus in 15 years—it is important, but it is in the previous financial year, so it cannot be used to fund things going forward in an ongoing sense. That's why I drew your attention to the fact that the budget remains in deficit—and, I think, in structural deficit—so we've got a fair bit of work to do around that and about how we make room for new investments. As I said, there's no shortage of good ideas, really good ideas, that we would like to fund. There are hundreds and hundreds of them, and I think, when we try to put the budget together, we have to make a series of decisions. You'll see that in the last budget we made a number that, hopefully, will improve the lives of women, including in the payment system and with the some of our housing policies—in a whole range of areas—and we will continue to do that.