David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The late, great Meat Loaf used to say that two out of three ain't bad, but what do you think he would have said about zero for nine? Those opposite spent nine years in government, and they spent that time praising their own fiscal responsibility, but how many surpluses did they deliver in that time? A goose egg: zero. And now they come in here and howl about fiscal responsibility. One side of this place likes to talk about fiscal responsibility. We've had lectures about fiscal responsibility from a side that never delivers it.

On the other side, the side of the Albanese Labor government, we really deliver it. In its first budgets after coming to office, the Albanese Labor government delivered the first back-to-back surpluses in almost two decades and restored confidence in our nation's finances. This side of the House cares about fiscal responsibility, because of the assistance that it provides to working families in Australia.

The other side only cares about fiscal responsibility so that they can have something to print on their mugs. They like to forget about the 'Back in Black' mugs that they printed to celebrate the surplus that they promised but never delivered. Those opposite racked up deficit after deficit, missed every one of their fiscal targets and left Australians with trillions of dollars of Liberal debt. They printed the mugs, they printed the debt instruments, but they could never print the word 'surplus' honestly.

In contrast, this government has delivered the largest nominal improvement to the budget in a parliamentary term, a $209 billion turnaround in its first term. We've turned Liberal deficits into Labor surpluses, we've driven down debt by $188 billion and we've found over $100 billion in savings since coming to government. These are savings that keep inflation under control, reduce interest payments and deliver more responsible spending for the future. While those opposite delivered 4.1 per cent spending growth, we have kept it down to 1.7 per cent, showing real restraint. That is the difference between talk and delivery.

This discipline matters for communities like mine in Hughes, because sound economic management is what has allowed us to deliver real support for local families, small businesses and pensioners, not slogans or scare campaigns. Across my community in Hughes, residents are feeling the benefits of Labor's responsible approach, and it has meant that we've been able to deliver tax cuts for every single taxpayer, putting more money back into the pockets of the people of Australia. We are doing it while building the infrastructure of Australia's future, and we're creating jobs in southern and south-western Sydney. That's what responsible fiscal management looks like: investing where it counts and keeping the budget sustainable.

Now, the member wants to reintroduce so-called quantifiable fiscal rules. These are the same rules that his own party invented and then ignored. Those opposite believe that rules are only for other people.

We do have fiscal rules, and they are set out in our budget. They include improving the budget position, which we have done by delivering two surpluses and improving the budget position by $209 billion, compared to what we inherited in our first term.

But those weren't the only rules they ignored. They also ignored their own promises. They promised to get the budget back into surplus; they went none for nine. They promised to offset new spending; four out of five times their decisions were negative. They promised to bank revenue upgrades, but they only returned around 40 per cent. They promised to reduce payments to GDP, but they grew instead, even before the pandemic. And they promised to stabilise debt, and yet they almost doubled it, even before COVID. So you'll forgive us if we don't take lectures from the people who failed every one of their own rules.

This government does have clear fiscal rules, and we are meeting them. We've delivered two surpluses, we've reduced gross debt as a share of the economy, we've banked almost 70 per cent of revenue upgrades and we've kept spending growth under control. While those opposite like to talk politics, we're focused on the economy. When we came to government, inflation was higher and rising, interest rates were rising, real wages were falling and living standards were going backwards. Since then, we've made strong progress. Inflation figures are now at four-year lows. Wages have grown in real terms for seven consecutive quarters. Over 1.1 million jobs have been created, a record for any government in a single term. Just last month, a AAA credit rating was reaffirmed by S&P. Debt is falling as a share of GDP.

The difference could not be more stark. Those opposite talk about fiscal discipline; we deliver it. They print surplus mugs; we deliver surplus budgets. They talk about savings; we make them. They talk about responsibility; we live it.

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