Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) | Hansard source

I thank Senator Walsh for the question. The numbers don't lie. We are managing the economy better than the coalition ever could. I know it hurts them! How many surpluses did the coalition deliver?

How many, Senator Cash? I think it was a big fat zero, even though the mugs came out a bit early. Those mugs were taken back straightaway, weren't they? 'Hide them in the bottom cupboard because—oops!—we got it wrong.' We've delivered a surplus. We're on track to deliver another one. Gross debt—remember that? It peaked under the former government. It's much lower under us. It will peak 9.7 percentage points lower than what the opposition forecast. So there is lower debt and there are surpluses. What about the interest on that debt? It's much lower under us—$80 billion less in interest costs because we're managing the debt much better. Inflation remains a challenge, but we've almost halved annual inflation since we were elected, and, of course, wages growth has almost doubled. (Time expired)