Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question, and I acknowledge the interest that he takes in economic policy. I can tell him that managing expenditures is vitally important for the Australian economy. If we had not been careful about managing expenditures in this country, the budget would still be in deficit and we would be carrying $96 billion of Labor Party debt. A big part of the economic success of the last 10 years has been balancing the budget and repaying Labor debt. That requires careful management of expenditure.

I have watched in amazement over the last week as the Leader of the Opposition has run around Australia promising state premiers every pet project that he can imagine. He began in Queensland, on 18 February, promising the Queensland government $408 million for a recycled water pipeline. He moved on to Western Australia, where he promised money for Gnangara Mound, Canning Dam and the Harvey irrigation project. He moved on to divesting Commonwealth royalties back to the state of Western Australia—

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