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

I'm not trying to shift accountability or responsibility here. I'm standing and answering it. The point is, if you read the statement on monetary policy, the pressure that is adding to inflation in the economy in the latest data, as the bank outlined, has been the upside on private demand. That is just the reality.

On the budget handling, we have found $114 billion worth of savings. Frankly, when you were in government, you didn't come anywhere near that—nowhere near it. We got rid of the buckets of funds and waste that you had buried into your budget as payoffs to the Nationals at that point in time—regional buckets of funding that were buried in the budget as wasteful spending. We got rid of it. We have cleaned up the budget. We have got it in much better shape, with lower deficits, lower debt and lower interest. We delivered two surpluses, which the governor herself has pointed to as being very helpful, and we will continue that approach in the budget in May.