Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question, of substance, is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer advise the House of the importance of a strong budget to support jobs and growth in our transitioning economy? Is the Treasurer aware of any threats to the rebalancing in our economy from the mining investment boom to a more diversified economy?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lyons for his question. His keen interest in the economy is not something which has been shown by those opposite, who today seem more interested in calendars than they do in the economy. Our economy, as the Prime Minister said, is transitioning successfully. We had three per cent real growth to the end of last year, outstripping most advanced economies of the world. This growth is delivering real jobs—some 300,000 in the calendar year last year, the strongest jobs growth we have seen since 2006, when the coalition was previously in office.

This transition has been driven and backed in by the confidence of Australians. They are the ones making this transition happen. Consumer confidence is up 11 per cent in the last six months, and confidence in the economic outlook over the next 12 months is up 20 per cent in the last six months. Successfully managing this transition is the key economic challenge facing our country, and it is the key challenge that the budget will be seeking to address later this year. That budget must continue to control spending and it must provide the right signals to promote investment. This will drive growth, which will then drive jobs. It is very important that the budget does control that expenditure. Those opposite are always happy to spend money that other people have earned, but on this side of the House we know that every dollar that you spend in this budget must be fit for purpose and must do its job. That is why we continue to have a strong approach towards budget repair and fiscal consolidation that will see government expenditure as a share of the economy on MYEFO fall to 25.3 per cent over the next four years.

But those opposite have a very different plan. Their proposal is to increase spending beyond that which is currently occurring, because we know that those opposite are already saying that they oppose $13 billion in savings that are before the parliament. They are voting against $13 billion, including billions of savings that they themselves proposed. They are opposing $13 billion in savings. On top of that, since the last budget alone, they have announced more than $11 billion in increased expenditure, and there are some $35 billion of savings that they are letting the Australian people believe they will reverse if they are elected to office. So, before they even start, they are some $60 billion behind the MYEFO statement last year.

The Leader of the Opposition now says that he thinks that budget repair cannot be 'an optional extra'. Well, under the opposition, it is not even an option, because what we see from them in their approach to budget repair is that they have come up with $1 billion worth of savings to pay for $60 billion worth of expenditure. They have come up with $7 billion in higher taxes—because what we know about those opposite is that they will tax and tax and tax because they want to spend and spend and spend. Tax and spend is no plan for jobs and growth.