Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Not if we care about the future opportunities for our children and grandchildren. If we care about the future opportunities for our children and grandchildren, then we cannot keep kicking the can down the road. If we keep kicking the can down the road we will be forcing our children and grandchildren to be on the receiving end of even tougher decisions. People in the Senate might think that the measures in the budget this year are tough measures, and I accept that they are, but if we do not make those tough decisions today as a country, the decisions will only become harder down the track. If we continue to defer the necessary decisions today, if we continue to resist the necessary savings to ensure that we live within our means, then it will be our children and grandchildren who will pay the price and it will be Labor that will stand judged for having prevented the government in 2014 from addressing the mess that the Labor Party left behind.