Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Treasurer. I refer to the comments from the Minister for Finance and Deregulation at the Press Club on 6 February when he said that he did not believe that there was a problem with respect to the states’ relative budget and debt positions. Given that state Labor government debt is projected to grow to $80 billion by 2011, does the Treasurer agree with his finance minister that this level of government debt is acceptable? Is the Treasurer seriously contending that a dollar spent by a state government has less impact on inflationary pressures than a dollar spent by the federal government?

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