Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Tomorrow, for the first time in Australia's history, gross debt will crash through half a trillion dollars. Does the Prime Minister agree with the Assistant Minister to the Treasurer, who said earlier today that under this government there is 'a truckload of debt' and 'an absolutely extraordinary amount of debt'?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Rankin for his question, because it gives us the opportunity to reflect on the work he did when he was working for the member for Lilley, then Treasurer. One of my colleagues has said he was the member for Lilley's brain. Now, I think that is harsh. That reflects poorly on each of them, so I dissociate myself from that.

This is how Labor was responsible for running up that debt: failed border protection policies, abandoning the security of our borders—a $14 billion blowout.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, the member for Rankin was there. The member for Rankin was there. A school halls program, another great idea that came out of the member for Lilley's office, wasted $8 billion; a pink batts program, $2½ million; sending 16,000 Kevin Rudd stimulus cheques to dead people and 27,000 to people living overseas; laptops in schools, $1½ million blown out; solar homes programs, an $850 million blowout; the Green Loans Program, $300 million wasted. It is a very long list.

Labor ran up a huge debt, a structural debt, a structural deficit, and then left that to the coalition—left us with the task of fixing it. And we are. We are bringing the budget back into balance. And we are genuinely doing that, unlike the Labor Party, who always claimed they were hitting a surplus. Indeed, it was only a few years ago, in 2011, that the Leader of the Opposition said, on the ABC:

I look at the rigour with which the Treasurer, the Prime Minister, indeed the Cabinet approached getting the government budget into surplus—

it was not very rigorous!—

I don't doubt that every day that is the guiding principle to push this Government to make sure that we are able to achieve being in surplus by 2012-2013.

That is quite a long time ago. Labor left us with debt and, since losing government, have done everything they can to prevent us getting the budget back into balance.

The Leader of the Opposition talks about 'tax cuts for millionaires'. He loves that, the old champion of the poor and oppressed there—storming the barricades, red flag flying. He is such a hero of the people! But the reality is: why are we getting the budget back into balance? Because we are making tough decisions. We are cutting spending and we are imposing a levy on the major banks, raising $6 billion over the forwards. We are raising that money. (Time expired)