Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Gallagher. Can the minister outline to the Senate the challenges facing the budget following a decade of wasteful spending and economic mismanagement under the former coalition government?

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

I thank Senator Stewart for the question. We inherited—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Opposit ion senators interjecting—

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

President?

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please continue, Minister.

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

We inherited a budget stuck in structural deficit. The Liberals and Nationals were the most wasteful governments since Federation. They not only oversaw consecutive budgets riddled with rorts and slush funds they also failed to deal with the policy challenges and the pressures impacting on the budget, which are now increasing, not decreasing. Those opposite delivered more consecutive deficits than any government since the 1920s—and remember those 'Back in black' mugs that were printed just that a little bit too soon? Remember that? We remember Senator Hume flashing her 'Back in black' mug around.

They doubled the deficit before the pandemic hit. They left us with a trillion dollars in debt, with very little to show for it, and they also propped up their budget numbers with a whole range of terminating measures, funding cliffs and a long list of zombie measures going back to 2016! In 2016 you had those zombie measures there, trying to make your budget bottom line look better than it was. We had to spend $4.1 billion in October to resolve some of these legacy issues inherited from the previous government, including providing funding certainty for programs that were underfunded or had expiring funding but were ongoing in nature such as environmental approval processes. How do you know they continue on 1 July in a new financial year! Information technology programs such as modernising business registers—again, let's have a look at the total price of that program once it's finalised! And, in this budget, we are continuing to do that. We're continuing to find funding cliffs. The adult public dental services, the myGov platform, the My Health Record, the high-risk terror offender program—they're not funded! Not funded! (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stewart, a first supplementary question?

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister provide an update on the work being done to repair the budget after the mess left behind by the former coalition government?

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

Yes, indeed, I'll take that interjection from Senator Watt. I am running out of time, because there is a list of things here that we are uncovering and will continue to work on—from October, and now into the May budget. But we are looking at how we can limit the growth in spending, especially when inflation is high; how we support modest revenue increases, for example, to support our budget repair, which was the announcement we made last week; and focusing new spending on investments that grow the capacity of the economy like the National Reconstruction Fund, which the 'no-alision' are opposed to. They're opposed to manufacturing jobs, opposed to jobs in the region, opposed to Australia getting their fair share of support from a government for those important industries that we're going to rely on in years to come.

The October budget also included savings, and we will continue to look at sensible savings areas where we can as we commit to the ongoing role of budget repair.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stewart, a second supplementary question?

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister, for outlining the repair responses that are underway. Can you please update the Senate on why budget repair is crucial to supporting the Australian economy and individuals and businesses?

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

We must improve the state of our budget. We need to make those responsible decisions that will ensure the budget is able to withstand and respond to future shocks when they come—and they will come. We have to make room in the budget to repair the mess that we inherited, and we also have to make room for sensible spending in those areas where we're seeing increased pressure: Medicare, hospitals, aged care, the NDIS and other social services, defence and national security—all of these areas where the pressures on the budget are increasing. They're accelerating, not decreasing, and our budget has to be in a position where we are able to deal with that.

So we will go through and deal with the legacy of poor budgeting that we saw from the budget vandals opposite. We will fix up those areas where we can, and we will make room for Australians' priorities in those areas I've just outlined.