Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Well, some people in the Labor Party obviously struggle with the thought of living longer, and I suggest that some of their constituents might have that view about them as well. The fact is that we are living longer and we want to have a good quality of life. Importantly, the Intergenerational report represents a compact between the generations. It is an agreement between grandparents and parents, between children and grandchildren and our generation to ensure that we can afford the future, that we can pay for the health care, the aged care and the education and all the things we desperately need.

The starting point has to be right here and now. We need to start living within our means. As a result of the legacy of Labor, we were left with a daily debt that accrued at over $100 million a day. So every single day, as a result of Labor's actions, we had to borrow $100 million just to pay the daily bills as a government. That is clearly not sustainable. If the government have to keep borrowing $100 million a day just to pay the daily bills—and a large chunk of that has to come from people living overseas who are lending us the money—sooner or later we end up with debt levels that allow the bankers of the world to be in control of our destiny rather than for us to be in control of our destiny.

What is the solution? The solution is that we need to be able to get on with the job of fixing the mess that Labor created. And we have gone a long way.

Mr Champion interjecting—

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