Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying before that spurious point of order, the Rudd government understands the need for responsible budgeting and investment in the future. It is needed to tackle inflation. We have delivered a strong, $22 billion surplus. We laid the foundations for investment in future productive capacity that will secure our long-term economic prosperity. We delivered a responsible budget that brings spending back under control and takes the pressure off the Reserve Bank, interest rates and inflation. We reined in real growth in government spending to about one per cent.

This responsible long-term economic approach stands in stark contrast to the record of the previous government. Spending grew by four times the amount it was under the Rudd government’s first budget during the former Treasurer’s last four years in the job—four times. This irresponsible spending fuelled inflationary pressures in the Australian economy. Rising inflation puts upward pressure on interest rates, erodes living standards, eats away at savings and threatens our national prosperity. It especially hurts people on fixed incomes, which include the most vulnerable people in our society, such as pensioners and others on support payments.

Under the watch of those opposite, domestic inflation reached 16-year highs. The previous government ignored a series of warnings about the consequences of their reckless spending from Treasury, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the IMF. We continue to feel the effects of those opposite’s willingness to put short-term political interest ahead of the long-term national interest of the Australian economy.