Luke Howarth Petrie, Liberal Party
2:07 pm
My question is also to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister please explain how the government is delivering on its plan to build a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia?
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
I thank the member for Petrie for his question. He is right: the government has said we are in the business of building a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia. In particular, pre-election, the government said that we would stop the boats, we would scrap the carbon tax, we would build the roads of the 21st century and we would get the budget back under control. That is what we said we would do and since the election we have been purposefully setting about doing just that.
For almost six months, there have been no successful people-smuggling ventures—
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Opposition Members:
Opposition members interjecting—
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
The members for Lingiari and Rankin will desist.
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
arrive in Australia. Within the next month or so the carbon tax should be abolished and that will save the average Australian household some $550 a year.
Mr Perrett interjecting—
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
This is the best thing we can do right now to reduce cost-of-living pressures on Australian families. Very soon, work will be underway on the major roads that the government committed to, pre-election, and, thanks to the recent budget, we are now back on track for sustainable surpluses. I regret to say that the former government gave us the six biggest deficits—
Warren Snowdon Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories
Which you doubled!
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
in Australia's history. The former government gave us debt and deficit stretching out as far as the eye can see. The policies of the former government would have given us $123 billion in cumulative deficits over the next four years and debt peaking at $667 billion. Because of the position the former government left our country in right now the Australian people, through the Commonwealth budget, are spending a billion dollars on interest alone every month.
Mr Dreyfus interjecting—
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
We are spending a billion dollars in interest alone every month. That is a billion dollars in dead money because of the spending spree of the former government. Thanks to this budget, we will be in a situation that is very close to balanced by 2017-18 and gross debt will be $300 billion less—
Mr Dreyfus interjecting—
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
than would have been the case under members opposite. It is not easy to repair the fiscal disaster—the debt-and-deficit disaster—that we have inherited from members opposite. We never said it would be easy. We did say it would be done and done it will be under this government.