David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Cormann, the Minister for Finance and the Minister representing the Treasurer. Can the minister explain to the Senate the importance of enacting the government's economic action plan to repair the budgetary damage inflicted by the previous government and to build a strong and prosperous economy?

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

I thank Senator Bushby for that question and I thank him and congratulate him on the outstanding job he did as Chair of the Senate Economics Legislation Committee through the Senate estimates process. If we are committed to protecting our living standards for the future, if we are committed to building prosperity and opportunity for the future, then there is no choice but to pass the budget that we delivered just over a month ago.

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I ask Senator Cormann to resume his seat as Senator Cormann is entitled to be heard in silence.

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

I remind honourable senators that it is disorderly to be in that part of the chamber. Senator Hanson-Young, will you resume your seat please.

Honourable senators interjecting—

Order on both sides! The minister in giving his answer is entitled to be heard in silence. The minister.

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

Thank you very much. As I was saying, if we want to protect our living standards, if we want to build opportunity and prosperity for the future, there is no alternative to the budget that we have delivered, because the spending growth trajectory that we inherited from the Labor Party was unsustainable, unaffordable and unrealistic.

Senator Wong interjecting—

I hear Senator Wong interjecting here. There used to be a time when Senator Wong as the Minister for Finance believed in surplus budgets. Remember when Senator Wong delivered her first budget as finance minister, when she told us in 2011 that the return to surplus by 2012-13 was 'not negotiable'. Remember that? She said also in her first budget there would be three years of black ink from 2012-13 onwards. In her second budget she did even better: she said the government had delivered a budget surplus and the surpluses would grow year after year. And, of course, everybody knows that what we inherited was $191 billion in accumulated deficits from Labor's first five budgets, another $123 billion in projected deficits from Labor's last budget, government debt heading for $667 billion within the decade and rising beyond that, government having to spend $1 billion a month in interest— (Time expired)

David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister advise the Senate whether there are any risks to the government's fiscal and economic reforms?

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

I thank Senator Bushby for that supplementary; and, yes, there are risks to these reforms. The biggest risk is, of course, the fact that the Labor Party still refuses to face up to the mess that they created in government. They still refuse to take responsibility for the budget mess they left behind. Right now they are telling us that they are opposed to $40 billion in savings measures. Extraordinarily, that includes $5 billion in savings which the Labor Party initiated in government, banked in their last budget and now, of course—after they refused to do the heavy lifting in getting it through the parliament—are here opposing today. That is the reckless approach of the Labor Party under Bill Shorten's leadership.

There is no alternative economic plan here in Australia right now. There is no alternative fiscal plan right now in Australia. The only plan here is ours. (Time expired)

David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate of the implications today's reform decisions will have for the future living standards of all Australians?

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

I, again, thank Senator Bushby for his question. The prosperity that we are enjoying today is as a result of the decisions that have been made in the past. Of course, the previous government took Australia's prosperity for granted. They thought that no amount of additional tax, no amount of additional red tape, no amount of attacks on successful people across Australia would do any harm to our economy. Of course, they were wrong.

They left a situation where our economy was growing below trend, unemployment was rising, consumer confidence was low, business investment had plateaued and our budget was in very bad shape, with an unsustainable spending growth trajectory. Here they are now, trying to stand in the way of a government that is working hard to build a stronger economy, to create opportunities for everyone to get ahead. Quite frankly, they still cannot face up to the mess they left behind; they still cannot take responsibility. The sooner they do, the sooner they change their attitude, the better it will be for— (Time expired)