Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister—if he chooses to answer.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member will resume his seat. He will take those words out of his question and ask it properly.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am happy to oblige, Madam Speaker. My question is to the Prime Minister. In 2013, the Prime Minister said, 'You can never cure too much debt and deficit with more debt and deficit.' So why does the Prime Minister now think that a debt-to-GDP ratio of 50 to 60 per cent is a pretty good result?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor's ratio of debt and deficit was 120 per cent. The official Treasury advice is that under the policies of members opposite this is where debt and deficit was going. Debt was going to 120 per cent of GDP and deficit was going to 12 per cent of GDP. That is where debt and deficit were going under Labor. The ouzo economists opposite might shout and scream. They might carry on—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Parramatta is warned.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

but that is where debt and deficit were going under members opposite.

As the Treasurer said in his previous answer, there is a job remaining to do. There is no doubt about that. There is more left to do but already, as a result of the restructuring passed by this parliament, Labor's debt and deficit is halved. Labor's debt and deficit is halved. That is the strong foundation upon which this year's budget will be built.

And I want to thank the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance for their work. I want to thank the crossbench in the Senate for at least being prepared to engage with this government.

Opposition members interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Charlton and the member for Hotham will both desist.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The only people who are not prepared to engage with this government are members opposite. They created the problem, and if they had any decency and if they had any honour—if they had any fidelity to the tradition of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating; people who took economic management seriously—they would say, 'All right; sorry. We created a problem, but now we are prepared to shoulder at least part of the responsibility for fixing it.'

So, I say again to the Leader of the Opposition: if you do not like the proposals of this government, tell us what yours are. This is supposed to be the year of ideas; give us some ideas. We do not want many; just one will do. But at the moment the only ideas that we get from members opposite are to repudiate the ideas for reducing the debt and deficit that they had in government. So, this is a good foundation upon which this budget will be built.