Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline the importance of fixing the budget? What does this mean for my constituents in Dobell?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dobell for that question. I can say to her constituents that if we can fix the budget mess that we inherited then we strengthen the Australian economy. It means more jobs and more opportunity for everyday Australians. The budget repair task is well underway. As the Prime Minister identified a little bit earlier, $10.8 billion of savings over the next four years have passed through the parliament in the last two weeks. That is a good start—building on the efforts that were previously made, $30 billion of savings from last year's budget. So we are well underway in our task of addressing the shortfall left behind by Labor. When we came to government the budget was haemorrhaging $133 million a day. That means that we would have to borrow $133 million every day just to pay the bills. We have only got that down to $96 million a day. We have made progress but there is still much to be done.

I call on the Labor Party to be consistent now and continue to back the budget improvement initiatives laid down by the Abbott government because they now realise, as we realise and have since the day we were elected, that the best thing we can do to strengthen the Australian economy is to help to get the Australian government back to a position where it lives within its means and at the same time do everything we can to reduce the taxation burden and the regulatory burden on everyday Australians and Australian businesses.

At the same time we are delivering more jobs. Next door to the member for Dobell's electorate on the Central Coast—and she is a key contributor in this regard—there are 600 new Public Service jobs associated with the Australian Taxation Office going in there. That is hugely important for Gosford. We are opening up new opportunities. That is hugely important as well, not just because we have an infrastructure Prime Minister and an infrastructure infrastructure minister but because we also have new trade agreements with Korea, Japan and China. Those new trade agreements, which cost the budget $6 billion, are an investment in opening the doors.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

The cackling will cease.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and I have announced today that Australia will be joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. We will be doing so because it provides massive new opportunities for Australia to join with 56 other countries as founding members in building the essential infrastructure for Asia, which will facilitate more trade in agriculture, in resources and, ultimately, in services that will be to the great benefit of everyday Australians.