Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm that his government has failed to achieve its forecasts on wages in every one of the last seven budgets? Why should any wage forecast released tonight in the eighth budget be believed?

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

The Treasury forecasts that are contained in every budget, which are prepared by Treasury—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will pause. Members will cease interjecting! I need to be able to hear the answer. The Prime Minister has the call.

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

It may come as a mystery to the Leader of the Opposition—I know he didn't spend too much time on the Expenditure Review Committee when they were in government; it was almost as little time as he did on the National Security Committee. I've never known someone to spend so much time in the parliament and have so little experience when it comes to economic and national security policy. But Treasury have prepared the forecasts, independently, for the government in every single budget, and they are based on the understanding of circumstances at the time. And they will do that again tonight.

We have always sought as a government to ensure that as Treasury frame those forecasts they do so conservatively. A very good example of that is the estimate that is made on iron ore prices. The purpose of all of those estimates and the purpose of all of those assumptions is to ensure that the government can base its spending decisions on revenue estimates that are reliable. The fact is that each of those budgets, particularly those I was responsible for as Treasurer and as Prime Minister—with the exception of the pandemic hitting the 2019-20 budget—have seen those revenue estimates exceeded. Exceeded!

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, the question goes directly to the wages forecasts and no other sector of the budget. It goes to how much people are paid and why it is that the government always say they're going to get more in their pockets than they end up with in those wages forecasts—every single budget!

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, the question was about one policy topic and one policy topic only. The Prime Minister.

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

I take the point of order and I take the interjection. I'll tell you why: because we cut their taxes. Under our government they get to keep more of what they earn because we have reduced the taxation burden on working Australians. This is what those opposite don't understand.

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. I say to the Prime Minister: it wasn't about taxation policy; it was about wages policy and the forecasts in the budget.

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

I was diverted by the interjection and the point of order by the Manager of Opposition Business. But, as I was explaining to those opposite, the forecasts in the budget, which include the wage forecasts, combine with all the other forecasts in the budget to make an assessment of revenue estimates upon which we base our spending decisions. This may come as a mystery to those opposite but that's called responsible financial management. It's what our government does, and that's why our revenue estimates have always proved to be quite conservative. That means we don't spend money that's not there. We don't do that. We make our spending decisions carefully and to deal with the circumstances we're faced with as a government.

What we have done as a government over the course of this pandemic is stepped up to ensure that the Australian economy has performed like few others in the world. That may have escaped the notice of the Leader of the Opposition and the Labor Party, but I know Australians like the fact that they're back in work. The people that have achieved that are Australians, and we'll keep backing them in—and we'll back them in again tonight. (Time expired)