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Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Page: 4315

Budget

Mr ROBB ( Goldstein ) ( 14:39 ): My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to the blow-out in interest costs on the government's net debt to $8 billion a year by 2015-16. Treasurer, is it not the case that if these $8 billion were applied to the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme it could be introduced immediately, for all 400,000 Australians with a disability, rather than the 10,000 in 2013-14 contemplated in this budget?

Mr SWAN (Lilley—Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer) (14:39): I thank the shadow minister for his question, and it is a very important question. It gives me the opportunity to address debt and it gives me the opportunity to talk about why we are coming back to surplus and paying down debt.

When the global financial crisis hit we moved with a powerful stimulus to support our economy. Because we did that, hundreds and thousands kept their jobs and hundreds of thousands of small businesses kept their doors open. The consequence was that we, almost alone amongst developed economies, avoided a recession. Avoiding that recession is why we are in such a strong position now amongst developed economies in the world compared to just about anybody else. We avoided a recession. That is one of the reasons we have unemployment at 5.2 per cent and a strong investment pipeline and why opportunities are so big for our country into the future.

When that hit, it hit our revenues. Our revenues have been written down by $150 billion over five years. Those opposite expect the Australian people to believe that if they had been in our position they would not have done anything other than accept that revenue hit and they would not have moved to support our economy. The consequence of that would have been higher deficits, higher debt and higher interest payments, today. If they had been in power during that period of time, we would be sitting here looking at higher unemployment, higher debt and higher interest payments.

Mr Robb: Madam Deputy Speaker, I have a point of order on relevance: my question was about the blow-out in interest rates in the future—2015-16—not three years ago.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms AE Burke ): The member for Goldstein has made his point. The Treasurer is answering the question.

Mr SWAN: We are coming back to surplus because we have a strong economy. We walk tall in the world and as a consequence of that we have the capacity to accumulate surpluses and, over time, pay down debt. That is precisely what we should be doing and that is exactly what we are doing. That is the reason we have put in place $33 billion worth of saves in this budget. The weight will be on those opposite because they have a $70 billion crater in their budget bottom line and every save of ours that they knock back will add to that $70 billion crater. That is the contrast between that side of the House and this side of the House. We take fiscal policy seriously. Those on that side of the House had their auditors found guilty of professional misconduct during the last election campaign. They could not be trusted to run a chook farm.