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

To explain this very simply, we use the same budget accounting standards which are used internationally and were used by Treasurer Costello. Those are the accounting standards which drive the definitions of gross debt, net debt, net financial worth and net worth. The budget papers, if one reads them, go through a very detailed explanation about various accounting standards and provide a number of summaries of how those financial concepts have been arrived at. I would also make the point that Senator Joyce continues to talk about gross debt. That is like a household looking only to their mortgage and not looking at a financial asset they may hold in the bank like a term deposit. That is the reality. (Time expired)