Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Shadow Treasurer) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today.

Unfortunately for Australians, the economic news is all bad. Australia is now tipping into $1 trillion worth of national debt. Unemployment is now on the rise. Inflation remains outside the RBA's preferred range of two to three per cent. Australians are living with 15 interest rate rises under Labor. Living standards are falling. And there is no plan from Labor to reverse this economic bad news.

It's official. Australia has now tipped over the $1 trillion mark for national debt. Why should people be alarmed about that? In just 12 months, that represents $27 billion in interest rate payments alone. What does $27 billion buy you? It could buy you 200,000 nurses. It could buy you 400,000 high-care aged-care places. It could deliver $1,800 in tax relief to every Australian taxpayer—a trillion dollars' worth of national debt, with $27 billion worth of interest payments in one year alone. Rising levels of national debt, especially when they trip over the $1 trillion mark, are bad news for Australians for two primary reasons. The first reason is that that debt bill shackles young Australians to higher taxes in the future. Think about that. If you're a young Australian, you should be both alarmed and alert to the fact that we have now tipped over $1 trillion worth of national debt because that is your debt. They are your future tax increases that you and your young families will be responsible for.

There's another reason why we should be concerned about $1 trillion worth of national debt—and growing—and that is that it reduces the fiscal capacity of this country to respond to unforeseen events like global conflicts that interrupt our supply chain or global pandemics which put Australians and Australia's prosperity at risk. There is no way the government can make this $1 trillion national debt story into a good news story. It is all bad and it's particularly bad for young Australians. But there is an alternative that will fix the economy and protect our way of life. There's an alternative for lower taxes, a plan for cheaper power, a plan for less migration and more homes and a plan to put Australians first.

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, please don't use props in the chamber.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Shadow Treasurer) | Link to this | Hansard source

That plan to fix the economy, to protect our way of life, is a plan that will pay down Labor's trillion dollars worth of national debt. It's a plan that puts Australians first. It's a plan that gives a future brighter than the one that Labor offers to young Australians. It's a plan that gets this country back in shape. It's a plan led by Angus Taylor and the coalition—in contrast to Labor, who have no plan. Labor's plan, unfortunately, is rising levels of inflation, rising levels of unemployment, rising interest rates— (Time expired)

Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor has a plan. We're implementing the plan, we're in government with the plan and it's a pretty good plan. We don't need a prop to demonstrate that plan. The plan is the reality of the life that we are living in government. While I welcome the return to a focus on the economy in question time—it's something which tends to escape the attention of those opposite a little too frequently—the fact is that, under those opposite, gross debt would have crossed the trillion-dollar mark three years ago. We know, if we put the facts on the table, that, if the coalition had been in power today, gross debt this year would already be approaching $1.2 trillion.

Labor's responsible economic management has helped get debt down from what we inherited from those opposite, and, as a result, Australia is avoiding more than $70 billion in interest payments. The international rating agencies Moody's and S&P Global have this month both reaffirmed Australia's AAA credit rating, noting Australia's low debt levels. Our responsible economic management has delivered one of the strongest budgets in the developed world while continuing to deliver meaningful and ongoing help with the cost of living, like five tax cuts, more Medicare and more bulk-billing. The Liberals took a plan to the last election for higher taxes, bigger deficits and more debts. In contrast, we took a plan for lower taxes that invests in the things that matter—like critical cost-of-living support, because we know that Australians are doing it tough right now.

We took a plan to invest in people's wages because we believe that high wages are a good thing. We believe that people being paid fairly for the work that they do is a good thing. We believe that early childhood care workers, who do one of the most important jobs in our country—caring for our nation's children in a critical period of their development—and are supporting participation in the workplace and supporting productivity, deserve to get paid fairly for the job that they do. For too long they were underpaid and undervalued.

It's the same with aged-care workers. Aged-care workers do one of the most important roles in our community. Everyone who has a parent or a loved one in aged care, as I do, knows how much we rely on the amazing and extraordinary dedication and care that those workers provide to our loved ones. They deserve to be valued for the work that they do. But the fact is they've been working in an economy which has undervalued what they do—and which has undervalued women's economic contribution. So we have proactively worked to reform that. We have proactively worked to ensure that their wages go up.

Of course, we're investing in things that matter like Medicare, with urgent care clinics right across the country making an enormous difference in people's lives. Anyone who's got a kid who's broken an arm or sprained a foot—in those instances they don't need to be in emergency at a hospital or in a waiting room; they can get that care in an urgent care clinic. We're investing in cheaper medicines, $25 scripts, which is making an extraordinary difference to the hip pockets of Australians right around the country, and we're making sure that they can get longer prescriptions as well.

Our investments are about prioritising the things that matter. We have an Australian economy which is gathering momentum in the face of global economic uncertainty. We're focused on cost-of-living relief because we know how important that is for Australians, as well as investing in homeownership and trying to level the playing field so more young Australians can have that opportunity to own a home, like the generations before them.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

It's hard to imagine how much $1 trillion is. The people of Australia now owe $1 trillion for the first time in our history, under this Labor government. One trillion dollars equates to 14,000 tonnes of $100 bills; $1 trillion equates to 1,400 kilometres if you stacked $100 bills from the floor of this Senate chamber on the way to the moon. That's what $1 trillion means. It's one million times one million. It's hard to get your head around, but that's what the Labor government has delivered for the Australian people. Not only that; it's delivered higher unemployment. We learned today the unemployment rate has hit 4.5 per cent, and, as Senator Smith said, the inflation rate is 3.8 per cent, outside the RBA's band of between two and three per cent. So we have $1 trillion in debt, the highest unemployment rate since the COVID pandemic and 3.8 per cent inflation, outside the RBA range of two to three per cent. That's one hell of a trifecta.

This raises three concerns. First, it's a moral issue, because this level of debt is a betrayal of future generations, of our children and grandchildren, who'll have to pay it back. Second, the interest burden on that $1 trillion of debt, the interest that's got to be paid before we pay back the principal, is $29.6 billion a year. That's more than what we pay for JobSeeker, more than what we pay for our PBS system, more than what we pay to sustain our Army. That's what we've got to pay in interest. And, third, because of that level of debt, they've got to impose more taxes, such as the capital gains tax increases and the taxes on discretionary trusts used by hundreds of thousands of small businesses across Australia. That's the issue.

As Senator Smith said, in the coalition's plan released by Angus Taylor and Matt Canavan, this is recognised: 'Less debt, better government.' That's on page 26. I want to read this in terms of our values—and our values, I think, are the values of the Australian people:

For Australians to have the means to live, government must live within its means.

It makes sense. So what are we going to do? We're going to put a limit on spending such that government spending can't increase at a rate greater than the economy. It's got to be connected. We're going to establish a future fund so that, when we get a huge increase of revenue from iron ore, from coal, from oil and gas, we actually store some of that for future generations instead of squandering it. And we're also going to introduce a tax back guarantee for Australians, so, when Australians are pushed into higher tax thresholds because of inflation, the tax thresholds go up. That's the fair thing to do for the Australian people. We should be a country that lives within its means.

This is a moral issue. We shouldn't place the burden of unsustainable debt on future generations.

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition asked about interest costs on Australia's debt. I think that that's a fair question, but, before I answer it, I want to tell the chamber what that money was spent on, because I think that's really important context, the money that those opposite characterise as wasteful spending.

It was spent on five tax cuts. From 1 July, every single Australian taxpayer got a tax cut, not just some. The average worker will be around $2,800 better off thanks to that spending. It was spent on cheaper medicines. The PBS co-payment has fallen to $25. Labor has expanded the PBS listings for cancer, kidney disease and cystic fibrosis treatments—absolutely life-changing drugs priced so people can afford them. That's what the money was spent on.

It was spent on 137 urgent care clinics. It was spent on strengthening Medicare through the tripled-bulk-billing incentive. More Australians can see a doctor for no cost. No Australian should have to make the decision between putting food on the table and taking care of their health, and that's what Labor's spending has assured for Australians. It was spent on the workers who care for Australians—a historic 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators, backed by a $3.6 billion spend in government funding. We spent $17.7 billion supporting the Fair Work Commission's pay rise for 400,000 aged-care workers. These are the people who look after our kids. These are the people who look after our elders. Their work was undervalued for decades, and Labor is fixing that.

It was spent on a full six months of paid parental leave, with superannuation paid on every one of those weeks so that mums and dads are not robbed of retirement savings for making the choice of raising their kids. It was spent on free TAFE. Even while spending this money on Australians, this Labor government delivered the first back-to-back budget surpluses in nearly two decades. In four years, Labor has delivered more than a quarter-of-a-trillion-dollar improvement to the budget bottom line. This is what those opposite are calling wasteful.

Let me turn to the debt itself, because I think those opposite are hoping that everybody else has short memories just like them. In September 2013, when the coalition took office, Australia's gross debt was $280 billion. By May 2022, when they left office, gross debt had climbed to $881 billion—so 60 per cent of the trillion-dollar debt was added under the coalition government. And here is what those opposite don't want Australians to hear: if the coalition were still in power today, gross debt would be approaching $1.2 trillion. If they think a trillion dollars is eye-watering, imagine what $1.2 trillion would make them do. Australia's gross debt would have crossed the trillion-dollar mark 2½ years ago, not this year—that was Treasury's projection.

Under this Labor government, gross debt is $173 billion lower than the coalition's 2022 projection. I commend this Labor government's economic management under Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher to the chamber.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) | Link to this | Hansard source

In 1996, Labor and Paul Keating bequeathed Australia $96 billion of debt. I thought that was a pretty big number. But Prime Minister Albanese and the Labor Party are bequeathing Australians a trillion dollars of debt. As Senator Scarr said, it's a million million dollars. I was interjecting—which I know is disorderly. I was asking various Labor ministers, 'How many zeros are there in a trillion dollars?' There are 12 zeros in a trillion dollars. But more worrying than the number of zeros in a trillion dollars is the interest payments. I shall be speaking for four minutes this afternoon. In the four minutes that I am speaking, our debt will have gone up $208,000—that is $52,000 a minute. That's a $27-billion-a-year interest bill.

What are this government going to do about it? The first thing they're doing is blaming everyone else. They're blaming the previous government. They're blaming world affairs. They're blaming Robert Menzies. They're saying that the dog ate the homework, that the cat ran off with the iPad. Everyone else is to blame except this Labor government in coming to terms with their massive incompetence when it comes to fiscal management. There's an old saying that, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I am not using this as a prop, but there is a plan that has been put out by the Leader of the Opposition, Angus Taylor, and the leader of the National Party, Matt Canavan—

Honourable Senator:

An honourable senator interjecting—

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll take that interjection. This plan—

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McGrath, unless you are reading from the document, I ask you to put it on your desk.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) | Link to this | Hansard source

I am going to read from the document, because I'm going to read the table of contents of this document, which is allowed to be read.

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Chisholm, are you on your feet with a point of order?

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Regional Development) | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes. My understanding was that slogans on materials are not appropriate for the chamber.

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) | Link to this | Hansard source

I will check with the clerk. Senator McGrath, you can—as I believed—read from the document, but I would ask you to do it in such a way that you are not using it to display a visible slogan.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) | Link to this | Hansard source

I would never do something like that—to display a visible slogan. I would encourage people to go to the coalition's plan to put Australians first. I would encourage Australians to go to page 26 of this document. It is a very thorough document. This document outlines our plan to reduce government debt and also to have better government. That is something I think all Australians want. They do want a better government. They don't want this prime minister, who's rarely in the same room as truth. They want a government who understands that there is a huge crisis out there at the moment. There is a cost-of-living crisis, and it is being driven along by excessive government spending.

In the 31-minute speech of the Treasurer, whose political heroes are Wayne Swan and Paul Keating—heaven help us!—the government has realised that this treasurer is going to go down as the worst treasurer this country has seen because of the trillion dollars of debt, and they have no plan. This is the point that I'd ask those who are listening to remember: this government has no plan to pay down the trillion dollars of debt. The coalition do have a plan. They do have a plan to fix the economy and to protect our way of life, because Australia is worth fighting for, and we've got to get rid of this government to make it a better place. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.