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

We have handed down our midyear review and found billions of dollars in savings to return the budget to surplus and we are on track to deliver it. This government will always ensure the appropriate fiscal settings to support the economy and jobs, and that will never change. That is why it remains appropriate to bring the budget back to surplus, given the economy is growing at trend, giving the RBA room to move on interest rates. Those opposite might recall that they did not enjoy official interest rates at this rate, certainly not in the period leading up to the change of government. Australians with mortgages are obviously substantially better off as a result of those interest rate cuts. Of course, the room for those cuts has been brought about by the fact that the government has engaged in fiscal consolidation—that is, bringing the budget back to surplus.

So those opposite can play all the games they like on this issue, but the reality is this: those opposite still cannot tell the Australian people whether they support the savings measures in MYEFO. They still cannot tell people. So, when they want to come—