Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I will take the interjection from the other side that called them a guess. Who they are impugning are the officers of Treasury, the people who advised Mr Costello. You might like to have a go at public servants who are not here to defend themselves! It is true that revenue has not come back for a number of budgets as fast as originally considered by the Treasury. You have seen a number of speeches by the Treasurer and by the head of Treasury which go to some of the structural reasons driving that. If Senator Cormann believes he could have been ahead of that curve, he certainly did not say anything at the time.

In terms of the return to surplus, I make this point: we have chosen to make savings to protect the surplus. In other words, the nearly $34 billion worth of savings in this budget are put in place not just to ensure any new expenditure is offset but so there is a substantial net savings position, which is all about protecting the bottom line because we are determined to bring the budget back to surplus not just in 2012-13 but also beyond.

Mr President, you will see the results of those decisions which are not only a surplus in this coming financial year but surpluses building over time. Our forecasts are broadly in line, certainly in terms of GDP, with those of the RBA and the IMF. I have made the point previously that, in terms of global growth, the Treasury estimates of what is occurring in Europe are probably more conservative than the International Monetary Fund's.