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

The shadow Treasurer and the Leader of the Opposition like to pretend that there has not been a revenue write-down in the budget of $160 billion over five years. They like to pretend that. So, if you take them seriously, what they are really arguing is that the government should have engaged in $160 billion worth of expenditure cuts over the past five years. Do you know what that would have done? It would have tanked our economy. We on this side of the House are committed to a balanced and responsible budget, a balanced and responsible fiscal policy, and we do that within the framework of our medium-term fiscal strategy, which is committed to surpluses on average across the cycle.

See this speech in context