Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

This government is very clearly focused on reforms which will strengthen our economy and our country for the future. We are proud of the fact that we have faced up to the big reforms over the past five years—big reforms like the NBN to lift productivity and to support business; big reforms like carbon pricing to make sure that a First World economy is driven by clean energy. It is this same determination to look to the future that this government is putting in place in 2013 for the next five years, in particular our determination to support jobs and growth. It is the top priority of this government, and it has been since day 1. It is why we moved to support our economy during the global financial crisis. It is one of the reasons that our economy is now 13 per cent bigger than it was back in 2007. Our priority has been jobs and growth and the peace of mind of the Australian community.

At the end of last year we took a very big whack to revenues—$4 billion, a revenue write-down over four months that we had previously written down for the whole year. That is why we said then that our first priority does remain with supporting jobs and growth, and that is what we will continue to do. When we support growth and when we have a strong economy, we have a strong budget and we have the capacity to put in place the very big reforms for the future which will lift productivity—particularly the school improvement program, the Gonski program and, of course, making a fairer Australia through the National Disability Insurance Scheme. There can be no doubt about our determination to strengthen our economy and our country for the future.

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