Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Labor's projected debt was going to be $23,000 for every Australian man, woman and child—that is the credit card bill for every Australian man, woman and child that the Leader of the Opposition wanted to leave us with. This government understands that you cannot fix the economy unless you fix the budget, and a stronger budget means lower taxes and more jobs. We were very up-front with the Australian people before the election: the schoolkids bonus would go, the income support bonus would go, because you cannot give what you have not got, and you cannot give away to people what you just cannot afford. And Labor's mining tax, which is supposed to support $13 billion worth of spending, was raising just $300 million. That is why these things simply cannot be afforded. We have had $20 billion in savings before the Senate—$15 billion of coalition savings, $5 billion in Labor savings—and Labor is against all of it. They just do not get it. I say that no country can ever spend its way out of economic trouble, and no government can ever spend money it has not raised.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

See this speech in context