House debates Questions without Notice

Budget

Tuesday, 13 October 2026 House of Representatives

Jim Chalmers

Jim Chalmers Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer

2:17 pm

I was asked about spending, and I've dealt with that. And I was asked about the views of colleagues, and I'm about to deal with that too. When the Leader of the Opposition went to that far-right conference in Brisbane, he had a shot at Josh Frydenberg. He said one of the big mistakes they made in office was that they made a mess of the budget—that they spent too much money. A lot of our work, in the 4½ years we've been in office, has been to clean up the mess that Josh Frydenberg left behind. That is the fact of the matter.

When the Leader of the Opposition went to that far-right conference and he made those comments, the thing that he didn't say, when it comes to spending and the question I got from the shadow treasurer, is that those opposite, since the election, have made more than $110 billion in extra, unfunded commitments. That would mean that, if those opposite were in office, the deficits that are currently in the budget would be at least twice as big as they are now, and, by their own logic in the shadow treasurer's question, that would be pushing up inflation and interest rates—by his own logic.

Is it any wonder that the member for Canning is stalking him inside this place? The former member for Kooyong is stalking him from outside this place. Josh Frydenberg thinks the Liberal Party is circling the drain on your watch, and he's right.

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