House debates
Tuesday, 9 May 2023
Questions without Notice
Budget
2:13 pm
Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I thank the member for Aston for her question. This is the first question I've ever got from a member for Aston; the previous member was mute for the entire term! Tonight's budget will be a responsible budget. Stronger foundations for a better future—that is what we will be providing tonight, cleaning up the mess that we inherited. Gross debt was predicted in the previous government's budget, and I remind them that we've been in office for less than one year. In 2022, their budget predicted that, this year, gross debt would be $977 billion, almost $1 trillion. They projected a deficit of 3.4 per cent of GDP, or $77.9 billion, for this year. I'll make a bold prediction—without stealing the Treasurer's thunder tonight—that it'll be a bit better than that. I'll make that bold prediction.
They had $7½ billion of unfunded and terminating measures over the forward estimates. That is what we were left with—a booby trapped budget that didn't plan for the future. This time last year, those opposite handed down a budget without a single dollar in savings—not one. But they had a whole lot of expenditure out there, most of which just disappeared as soon as people cast their votes. Their focus was just on the election. Our focus is on the needs of the Australian people: making sure that we look after the vulnerable and those doing it tough, making sure that we strengthen Medicare, and making sure that we deal with the skills crisis that we inherited.
Tonight's budget will be about helping people who are struggling to make ends meet, while not adding to inflation. It will be about dealing with the immediate challenges but investing in the medium and long term as well. It will be about providing affordable, effective and targeted cost-of-living relief, delivering historic investments in Medicare and health, supporting vulnerable Australians, growing the economy and strengthening the budget to make our finances more secure for the future.
Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Order! Members on my right will cease interjecting immediately so I can hear from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
2:16 pm
Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is to the Prime Minister. Core inflation in Australia is higher than in countries like the US, the UK and Canada, and Australians are hurting. Can the Prime Minister, using his economics degree, explain why his government's—
Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Order! Members on my right! The Minister for Home Affairs will cease interjecting.
Government members interjecting—
Order! Members on my right, I ask you to be silent immediately so I can hear the deputy leader. Out of respect for the deputy leader, she will start her question again.
Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is to the Prime Minister. Core inflation in Australia is higher than in countries like the US, the UK and Canada, and Australians are hurting. Can the Prime Minister, using his economics degree, explain why his government's only answer has been to announce a series of budget measures to spend more and tax more? Why do Australian families always pay more under Labor?
2:17 pm
Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I do have an economics degree, thank you, Deputy Leader of the Opposition. I encourage her to remind people at every opportunity. In case she's wondering, it was from the University of Sydney. I can bring it in here, and perhaps she can table it and frame it and put it up in her office.
Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Order! The member for Deakin will cease interjecting.
Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Indeed, I do use it each and every day. I use it to know that, indeed, inflation had taken off well before Labor took office. Indeed, the largest quarterly rise this century was—guess when? March 2022. The largest rise in inflation of any quarter this century was on their watch—the last quarter in which they were in office. That is the starting point that my government inherited: a 2.1 per cent jump in one quarter. If you do a bit of maths—you don't need an economics degree—2.1 over a quarter times four equals a pretty high inflation rate. That is what they were dealing with, and that is what we have had to deal with.
After the election, it emerged that the Morrison government had ignored Treasury warnings, and it used its final budget to unleash a desperate vote-buying spending spree. They added fuel to the inflation fire. A former government source described it as 'ordering the entree, the main and the dessert'. It was all there. All the one-off payments and the cash payments were there—not worrying about the impact.
Indeed, Australians always pay more under the coalition. We know that the highest-taxing government was the Howard government and the second-highest-taxing government was that of Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison. The budget papers accompanying their final budget last year showed no surpluses over the forwards; instead, the coalition were on track to rack up $224 billion in additional borrowings over just four years. The Intergenerational report showed the budget would not be in surplus in any year between now and 2060. That was their legacy.
Honourable members interjecting—
Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Members on my left and right will cease interjecting. The House will come to order so I can hear from the member for Blair.