Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. It is the case, if Senator Cormann considers the budget papers—and I assume he has—that there is an increase in 2015-16 in the net interest payment line. This is due to the maturing of a Treasury index bond line in that year. In that year all of the capitalised indexation of the principal is accounted for as interest and this adds to the net interest in that year over and above what normal interest on those bonds would be. This is explained in the budget papers at page 714.

We have laid out our path to surplus. We have demonstrated how we will grow the surplus over time every year of the forward estimates. We have ensured that we remain below the level of taxation that Treasurer Costello bequeathed to us. We have made sure we have constrained payments as a share of the economy to a level not seen over the forward estimates since the 1980s. I invite those on the other side who think that the Liberal Party should actually be a party that is fiscally responsible to demonstrate that they are, because at the moment their economic team is characterised— (Time expired)