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

Thank you very much, Mr President. You see, the Labor Party are into these games where they ask questions where they already know the answer. It is all very juvenile. I would point out again to the chamber that the Australian Office of Financial Management publishes an issuance strategy for the budget year only, and that any projections beyond the budget year are based on a set of technical assumptions and will vary with changes in these assumptions and budget estimates and projections. So, based on these technical assumptions—and this is published in the budget papers, at page 7-8 of Budget Paper No. 1—by the end of the forward estimates period, gross debt is expected to reach $606 billion.