Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The shadow Treasurer is interjecting—a man who could not even be bothered looking at the opposition’s costings before election day. If he ever gets round to looking at the budget papers, he will see that the government is engaged in the biggest fiscal consolidation since the 1960s in order to make sure the budget comes to surplus in 2012-13, and it will.

Beyond fiscal consolidation, we need to work to expand the supply side of the economy. Obviously what we do with human capital is vital to that. Our taxation system and particularly the reforms we have promised to company tax are vital. Growing the pool of national savings is vital, as is having the infrastructure we need for the future, and the National Broadband Network is pivotal to that so that we do not end up as a nation exporting jobs to other economies that have infrastructure like the National Broadband Network whilst we do not. The National Broadband Network is pivotal to the future. And we need to continue reform in education and health. As I outlined last week, we will be bringing market principles to those reforms. They are vital to the nation’s future, to ensuring that we have the skills and capacities that our society needs. They are vital to ensuring that our health system is high-quality and sustainable for all Australians.

Last week when I spoke in Brisbane I said we would be walking the journey of reform, the road of reform, every day, and we will.

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