Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question, because it goes to what a budget is all about at the end of the day. It goes to what you are seeking to do for the future of the nation. The values which have driven this government in putting together this budget are: firstly, how do you bring about long-term sustainable economic growth through responsible economic management; secondly, how do you bring about a budget which delivers for all Australians a fair share of the natural wealth of our country; and, on top of that, how do you, through a budget, also make sure that we are investing in the future needs of our economy? These are the enduring and underlying values which have governed not just the budget brought down by the Treasurer last night but the three budgets that we have brought down so far in the history of this government.

I say to those opposite: when it comes to building a surplus for the future, it is absolutely important to make sure that we are entrenching our long-term prosperity in strong economic management. It is entirely appropriate to underpin growth when we have a situation where the global economic recession was threatening the very survival of our economy. The challenge now is to ensure that we build the surplus for the future, and that is what this budget does. With responsible management, the government will halve peak debt and get the budget back into black in three years—three years earlier than we predicted last year. I congratulate both the Treasurer and the finance minister for their work in producing the analysis and the policy discipline underpinning the document.

I also say to those opposite that what we have here is Australia returning to surplus faster than any other major advanced economy in the world. We will emerge from the global recession with less than one-tenth their average debt. Getting it right in terms of strong, long-term economic management is a core value for this government because it underpins what we can then do for working families, for all Australian families, for pensioners, for carers and for those who rely upon government to secure their future. Fairness for our country’s future—and this was part and parcel of the question that was asked before by the Leader of the Opposition—is why in this budget we have produced further tax cuts for families. If you are on $50,000 a year, you are paying 18 per cent less tax than you did three years ago. The budget also rewards savings for families, with a 50 per cent tax cut on bank interest up to $1,000. It also simplifies tax returns for 6½ million Australians. It also increases superannuation for Australian workers. They deserve decent security in their retirement. On top of that, we are investing in the future of our health and hospital system. The development of the new ‘A national health and hospitals network for Australia’s future’ is fundamental to the future security and health security of Australian people. This is a document of fundamental reform. There is $7.3 billion worth of investment contained within the budget in order to produce more doctors, more nurses and, of course, more hospital beds for the future. That is what we are doing in terms of fairness through this budget. Beyond that, it is not just about strong economic management; it is not just about delivering fairness for the future; it is also about how we secure our future against the long-term challenges that we face.

Again, the Leader of the Opposition asked questions about tax. We have an obligation to make sure that the overall tax impost on Australian businesses remains globally competitive. That is why we are unapologetically bringing down the company rate for businesses large and small. It is why we are unapologetically bringing about tax breaks for small business. It is why we are unapologetically investing in the future of our infrastructure—road, rail and port. We are unapologetically investing in the future of our skills. We are unapologetically investing in the future of renewable energy in this country, because our country depends on those investments. As the Treasurer reminded us before, it is what we do for the future in bringing about strong economic management we believe in; what we do in bringing about a fairer Australia we believe in; securing Australia for the challenges of the future we believe to be our duty as the elected government of the country—and we are doing so on the basis of securing our international economic reputation and entrenching it for the future.

This year our budget deficit is 2.9 per cent of GDP and coming to surplus in three years. The average of the major advanced economies is 9.5 per cent of GDP. Not one of them is forecast to come into surplus in the next three years. Our debt in 2015 will be 3.4 per cent of GDP. The average of the major advanced economies is 93.9 per cent of GDP in 2015. Our growth in 2010-11 is 3.25 per cent of GDP. The average of the major advanced economies is 2.4 per cent of GDP. Where the rubber really hits the road is on how we actually protected jobs. Unemployment is at 5.3 per cent here; the average of the major advanced economies is 8.4 per cent. In the United States, unemployment is nearly 10 per cent, and in many countries in Europe it is 10 per cent.

These are the values which guide this budget. It is about securing our future; it is about fairness for the future. It is also about strong economic management. And it is about entrenching this country’s international economic reputation, which now remains unparallel across the advanced economies of the world.

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