Helen Kroger (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the finance minister, Senator Cormann. Would the minister outline the savings task ahead of the government and what are the obstacles to this savings task?

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

I thank Senator Kroger for that question. Between now and Christmas the government will be releasing the half-yearly—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cormann, resume your seat. When there is silence we will proceed. If honourable senators wish to debate the issue the time is after three o'clock this afternoon, not now.

Honourable senators interjecting—

Senator Conroy, Senator Carr and Senator Ronaldson, order!

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

Thank you very much, Mr President. Senator Wong is clearly very touchy given she presided over a $107 billion blow-out in the budget bottom line over her three short years as minister, as minister for finance. So this side of Christmas the government will be releasing the half-yearly update on Labor's last budget and what it will show is that the savings task is indeed enormous and that is because after six years of Labor our budget was left in a mess. The Labor Party in 2007 inherited a very strong budget position, a $20 billion surplus—no government debt there—$50 billion of cash in the bank, more than $1 billion in the interest payments collected by the Commonwealth on the back of a positive net asset position. And, of course, what happened after six years of Labor: $250 billion worth of accumulated deficits, gross debt heading for $430 and beyond. And, of course, we know now—

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cormann, resume your seat. Order! If you wish to debate the issue, the time is after three o'clock.

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

Thank you very much, Mr President. We know now that the figures that Labor released in the pre-election economic statement just before the election were not an accurate representation of the facts. Why do we know that? That is because Senator Wong included a whole range of savings measures, a whole range of Labor cuts, which Labor in opposition are now walking away from. So here we are and Labor present a picture in the pre-election economic statement saying, 'Our deficit now is $30.1 billion this financial year,' after promising a surplus before that. But we have got $5 billion worth of Labor cuts which are integrated into those budget figures Labor released before the election and that they are now walking away from. So $2.3 billion in higher education cuts from the Labor government, $1.1 billion of cuts to research and development from the Labor government, a $1.5 billion saving from not going ahead with the carbon tax— (Time expired)

Helen Kroger (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the minister for his answer. I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister advise the Senate of other attempts to frustrate the government's savings measures?

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Cormann, you are entitled to be heard in silence and I will not give you the call until there is silence. It is as simple as that. So when there is silence we will proceed.

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

Thank you very much, Mr President. What we know is that Labor were pretty hopeless in government. They are even more reckless in opposition under the leadership of Mr Shorten, because, of course, Mr Shorten is the guy that ripped $1.2 billion out of schools in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, which was never going to be sustainable and he would have known before the election that it was never going to be sustainable.

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind honourable senators: when there is silence we will proceed. The minister is entitled to be heard in silence. If you wish to debate it, the time to debate it is after question time, not now.

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

Thank you very much, Mr President. Labor's arrogance in opposition is just breathtaking. We know that their government changed—

Opposition senators interjecting—

That arrogance is quite breathtaking because they left us not just with a budget in a mess but with 96 un-enacted tax bills. We have got to do your dirty work.

Opposition senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cormann, resume your seat. I remind honourable senators on my left—

Senator Cameron interjecting—

Senator Kim Carr interjecting—

Senator Cameron! Senator Carr!

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

Thank you very much, Mr President. I say it again very slowly: 96 un-enacted revenue measures which you were too lazy or too incompetent to legislate and, of course, now you are preventing the government from getting rid of a tax, which would improve the budget bottom line to the tune of $13.4 billion. Only the Labor Party can come up with a tax that left the budget worse off! And now you are stopping us from fixing your problem. (Time expired)

Helen Kroger (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. What unfunded liabilities has the government uncovered after coming to office, and what impact do they have on the budget?

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

Not only did Labor leave the budget in a mess with a $30 billion and growing deficit, they also left us with a whole series of problems where they knew there was an inevitable cost attached to them and they did not make provision for it in the budget. Senator Wong knows exactly what I am talking about. Not only did they recklessly and irresponsibly force the Reserve Bank to deplete the reserve fund, which was arguably done at the worst possible time, we also had Senator Wong sneakily—in the shadow of the night, in the shadow of the election—impose a 14,500 job cut on the Public Service without making any provision to fund the redundancies that would come with it. That is another couple of hundred million dollars that they did not provide for. Of course we have also had offshore processing on Nauru and Manus. No money from 31 December 2013—no money! (Time expired)

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! When there is silence on both sides we will proceed.