Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

After deficit after deficit. And they would have kept going, but the people spoke.

Listening to the opposition leader, it was a bit like that annoying voice on your vehicle's global positioning system. We all have GPSs, with their outdated maps. Let us say the GPS is activated even though the driver knows the way. So the driver has the GPS activated, the driver knows the way and the maps are, say, pre 7 September 2013. So we have outdated maps, the GPS is on and it saying, 'Turn back, turn back.' The driver knows they are going the right way—and the coalition is the driver, in this instance—but the GPS is saying, 'Bear left, bear left.' That is what the member for Maribyrnong is like, 'Let's do a U-turn, let's do a U-turn.'

He denies the fact of the election. He denies the 7 September 2013 election result. He is still on those outdated maps. He is still saying, 'Do a U-turn, bear left, bear left.' He is saying, 'Going the wrong way' when the people of Australia know that we are going the right way. The people know that we are getting Australia back on the map, back in the right position.

If anyone has any doubt about Labor wanting to do U-turns, wanting to reintroduce carbon taxes, wanting to reintroduce mining taxes, wanting to take us back to the debt and deficit legacy that it so loves, let's read from the budget speech produced by none other than the member for Lilley. He starts off, 'The four years of surpluses I announce tonight' and on and on and on. Who was he trying to kid? He was like the annoying voice of the outdated GPS, 'Turn back, bear left.'

We know that the coalition are getting Australia back on track. We know we are heading in the right direction. More importantly, Australians know we are heading in the right direction. The people of Australia know they are in for a bit of a tough haul, and that is unfortunate because of the debt and deficit legacy left by the mob opposite—a debt to GDP ratio of 122 per cent if left unchecked. When the coalition came to government, our net debt was on track to reach $5.6 trillion by 2054 in today's dollars, which would been equivalent to one of the highest in the developed world. Under the current legislated arrangements, our net debt has been halved to 60 per cent of GDP. That is because of the good work by the Treasurer, the good work by his new Assistant Treasurer and the good work by the Minister for Finance, Senator Cormann, in the other place. If all of the measures in the last budget were implemented, our net debt would continue to decline and we would start building budget surpluses again.

We are not getting any help from those opposite. They continue to block their own savings measures. It is like that GPS voice again, 'Traffic jam ahead, traffic jam ahead.' And there is a traffic jam ahead; it is called 'Labor in the Senate'. Come on board with us. Get in the back seat and help us to steer this vehicle in the right direction. Stop telling us to, 'Bear left.' Stop telling us to, 'Make a U-turn.' We know where we are going. We know what we have to do. Please help us. Stop trying to correct the vehicle. Stop trying to make us go in the wrong direction.

This coalition government was elected on a policy platform where our No. 1 priority was to get Australia's budget and spending back under control. Incremental savings over time make a difference. Only by achieving these savings and through a concerted effort to repair the budget can government afford the sorts of things that Australians want it to do.

We have made considerable progress in our first budget. The release of the Intergenerational report confirms this. The reform measures already implemented have cut in half Labor 's projected debt and deficit. That is a great start. We are facing up to some of our structural, economic and fiscal challenges, including an ageing population, our exposure to falling terms of trade and the current unsustainable rate of government spending. Those opposite are not telling us what they would do if they had the Treasury benches. They are not telling us. They have no plan for the future.

All the member for Maribyrnong can talk about when he stands up is Tony Abbott. He is obsessed with Tony Abbott. We are pressing on with the task of repealing red tape. It started under the member for Kooyong. It continues under the new Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister—repealing red tape and getting rid of bureaucracy. We are creating export opportunities for Australian businesses and we are investing in infrastructure—$50 billion, the biggest infrastructure spend in Australia's history. Labor left a legacy of debt and deficit.

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