Varun Ghosh (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, rise to take note of answers to questions without notice. The coalition's history of financial irresponsibility is a nightmare from which this country is still struggling to awaken. When we came to government, inflation in this country was running at 6.1 per cent. In the 12 months to March 2024, it has reduced to 3.5 per cent—that is, nearly halved in the time we've been in government. One of the main challenges that the Albanese government has had to deal with is the inflationary hangover from the Morrison government—profligate spending, underinvestment in economic infrastructure and a complete neglect of systems of social support in this country. That's despite the fact that, across nine years, there was budget deficit after budget deficit, whereas what Labor has delivered now, for a second year running, is a budget surplus.

Following a budget surplus of $22.1 billion in 2022-23, the budget is forecasting a surplus of $9.3 billion in 2023-24. Though, once again grasping the nettle, the Treasurer does acknowledge that fiscal pressures intensify after that and that there will be future deficits. But progress has been made in strengthening the budget over that time. That is the serious effort of budget repair.

Since Prime Minister Albanese has taken government, we have identified $77.4 billion in savings. This budget identifies $27.9 billion in savings and reprioritisations. It limits real spending growth to an average of 1.4 per cent per year over the period since we came to government to 2027-28. That's less than half the average of the last 30 years and around a third of our predecessors. The budget improves the position by a forecast $214.7 billion over the six years to 2027-28, compared to at the time of the election, and it reduces debt as a share of the economy, with gross debt projected to peak at 35.2 per cent of GDP—almost 10 per cent lower than at the time of the election. So we've grasped the issue of inflation, we've grasped the issue of deficits and we've engaged in the hard work of budget repair.

The second wicked problem that we were left with, as reflected in the questions and answers at question time today, was a cost-of-living crisis. We address that at a number of different levels, including with a tax cut for all Australians, energy prices relief and, importantly—finally—real wages increase, after a long period of stagnation under the previous government. Annual real wages rose by 0.5 per cent in the year to the March quarter of 2024, and they're forecast to grow by 0.5 per cent for the next three years. Working Australians will have more money in their pockets as a result of higher real wages under an Albanese Labor government. When the coalition was in power, low wages growth was a deliberate design feature of the economic system that they sought to advance. It was an architecture that deliberately hurt working Australians. The coalition suppressed wages growth, adding to the current cost-of-living crisis.

We heard a lot about housing today in the questions and answers given, but this is a government that's committed to improving housing supply in Australia and providing demand side assistance. There are a number of policies that my colleague Senator Green referred to. Perhaps the most relevant, in terms of our future planning opportunities, is that this government is supporting investments in infrastructure around housing. So there's a billion dollars in the budget that will help get homes built sooner, because it funds states and territories to build roads, sewers, and energy, water and community infrastructure that are essential not only to assist in building new houses but to make sure that those houses are in areas that are livable and that Australians can find a true home. (Time expired)