Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

It is fair to say that I had not prepared for that question, because I was not down for a dorothy. I do not know whether Senator Abetz has read the papers, but I think he will find that people have universally acknowledged that the government has delivered a responsible budget—one that is very much focused on repaying debt and one that has at its core the early repayment of debt. Three years early the debt will be repaid compared to the budget forecast from last year. So not only are we in a situation whereby our current conditions have our economy stronger than all other comparable economies—we are in very good shape—but the government has taken advantage of those conditions and the fact that we have come through the global financial crisis in such good shape as a result of the government’s investment in the stimulus activity to protect Australian jobs. Having come through that, this government has delivered a fiscally conservative budget—one that focuses on repaying debt and meets the constraints that we predicted we would apply.

So what we know is that we will repay debt three years early. The whole focus of the budget is on making sure that we repay debt as the economy recovers, that we have limited new spending and offset new spending with savings and that we are very much focused on returning the economy to a situation where we are in the black as quickly as possible. Unless Senator Abetz has missed all the commentary, even from those who are critical of the budget, he will know that they acknowledge that that is the centrepiece of the government’s response: getting rid of our debt as quickly as possible and taking advantage of the strong economic position we find ourselves in as a result of the government’s effective management of the economy— (Time expired)