Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Aston for her question. This is the first question I've ever got from a member for Aston; the previous member was mute for the entire term! Tonight's budget will be a responsible budget. Stronger foundations for a better future—that is what we will be providing tonight, cleaning up the mess that we inherited. Gross debt was predicted in the previous government's budget, and I remind them that we've been in office for less than one year. In 2022, their budget predicted that, this year, gross debt would be $977 billion, almost $1 trillion. They projected a deficit of 3.4 per cent of GDP, or $77.9 billion, for this year. I'll make a bold prediction—without stealing the Treasurer's thunder tonight—that it'll be a bit better than that. I'll make that bold prediction.

They had $7½ billion of unfunded and terminating measures over the forward estimates. That is what we were left with—a booby trapped budget that didn't plan for the future. This time last year, those opposite handed down a budget without a single dollar in savings—not one. But they had a whole lot of expenditure out there, most of which just disappeared as soon as people cast their votes. Their focus was just on the election. Our focus is on the needs of the Australian people: making sure that we look after the vulnerable and those doing it tough, making sure that we strengthen Medicare, and making sure that we deal with the skills crisis that we inherited.

Tonight's budget will be about helping people who are struggling to make ends meet, while not adding to inflation. It will be about dealing with the immediate challenges but investing in the medium and long term as well. It will be about providing affordable, effective and targeted cost-of-living relief, delivering historic investments in Medicare and health, supporting vulnerable Australians, growing the economy and strengthening the budget to make our finances more secure for the future.

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