Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Given that the Labor Party last delivered a surplus in 1989, a full quarter of a century ago, in what year does the government expect to deliver its first budget surplus and start repaying $300 billion in debt?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition has asked this question in various forms across the course of the week and each and every time he does so he exposes his lack of competence in economics and the fact that the opposition wanders around pretending that the global financial crisis did not happen. I presume that if a journalist asked the Leader of the Opposition at a press conference if the global financial crisis happened, he would do what he normally does when confronted by hard questions, and that is, turn on his heel and end the press conference.

But, yes, the global financial crisis did happen. Yes, it did have implications for the Australian economy. And, yes, there are ongoing implications for government revenue, and our economy is being transformed by a high and sustained Australian dollar, sustained high at 50 per cent above recent levels—a 50 per cent appreciation in a very limited number of years. It has been sustained high despite a decline in our terms of trade and sustained high despite a reduction in interest rates. With these factors working in the global economy and in our own economy, we are seeing implications for government revenue that have been made clear during the various budget updates, including the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

In those circumstances you are presented with a very stark choice: you can either support growth and jobs or—which I assume is what the Leader of the Opposition is saying he would do if he were Prime Minister—cut and cut and cut. Let's be clear about the dimensions of the kind of cuts required. If that had been the approach taken during the depth of the global financial crisis, you would have needed to have done something as significant as ending all payments to aged pensioners.

Ms Anna Burke (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will return to the question before the chair.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order. On over 300 occasions the Prime Minister nominated this year as the year that a surplus would be delivered, and all the Leader of the Opposition is asking for is the year—

Ms Anna Burke (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is not a point of order. The point of order was relevance. I had already drawn the Prime Minister's attention to returning to the question.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To the Leader of the Opposition: of course we will deliver the budget, and budget forecasts will be updated in the usual way. Our economic strategy will always be to support jobs and growth, and we will continue to take our current approach to prudent financial management. If the Leader of the Opposition ever wants to produce anything that looks like a suite of figures for the Australian people to analyse, it would be a very different outlook from that of the past. Not one policy has been properly costed or matched with credible savings since the 2010 election; not one. And it is time the Leader of the Opposition actually tried to acquit that burden of leadership rather than carping with these kinds of questions.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Speaker, I ask a supplementary question. In what year will Labor's run of deficits finally end, given that the global financial crisis actually ended almost four years ago?

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

Ms Anna Burke (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Minister for Health is denying the Prime Minister the call. The Prime Minister has the call.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much. And wouldn't that statement from the Leader of the Opposition be news to the people of Greece—that statement that the global financial crisis is apparently yesterday's news? Wouldn't it be news to the people of Cyprus? Wouldn't it be news to the millions and millions of people unemployment in Europe? Wouldn't it be news to the people of Italy as they struggle with political gridlock and with continued economic dislocation? Wouldn't it be news to the people of the United States of America, who have not seen growth rates return in a way that would enable those Americans who lost their jobs during the global financial crisis to find a work opportunity?

If the Leader of the Opposition is truly saying that the global financial crisis is over, then what he is saying to the Australian people is that he has no understanding of the global economy or global economic events whatsoever and that the big questions that confront leaders when they meet at forums like the G20 are questions beyond his understanding. That is what he has said to the Australian people today. We deal with the circumstances of the real world, including the circumstances in the Australian economy. We will continue our strategy of supporting jobs and growth and prudent budget management.