John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

There will be no budget surplus under a government I lead! I can go back through my life from leaving school at the end of 1972 in Adelaide. Every state government led by Labor and every federal government led by Labor could not manage money. Every time the coalition was elected after a state or federal government changeover, what do they have: debt, debt, and more debt!

Look at Queensland. The $70-odd billion of debt is going be $85 billion by 2015 and $100 billion before 2020. There are 4½ million people in Queensland and they wonder why Premier Campbell Newman is making cuts. He has to make cuts or let his state go down the road of Greece, Portugal or Spain. You cannot do that. Likewise in New South Wales, Barry O'Farrell inherited a mess, a $5 billion black hole and a huge debt. This government will keep wasting, they will keep borrowing, and we will never see black print at the end of a budget. That is why we will have an election before mid-September next year, to save the embarrassment of more debt.