My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer. Senator Gallagher. Last month the Albanese Labor government released the Final Budget Outcome for 2025-26, which shows an improvement in the budget bottom line compared to what was forecast in the budget. How has the government repaired the budget since coming to government?

I thank Senator Darmanin for that important question. As senators would know, the Final Budget Outcome that the Treasurer and I released a couple of weeks ago shows the deficit comes in $6 billion better than forecast at budget time. We have delivered a stronger budget than we inherited in every year since we have been in office.

I know it's an inconvenient truth for you over there, but they're the facts. The budget over the last four years has been $230 billion, or almost a quarter of a trillion dollars, better than what we inherited. And the outcome shows that the Albanese Labor government is the government that is responsible for the budget repair—indeed, for delivering two surpluses when those opposite couldn't deliver one—and for improving the budget bottom line in every year since.

We have limited real spending growth. It has averaged two per cent over the four years we've been in government, which is half of what our predecessors averaged. We have delivered substantial savings and reprioritisations of around $178 billion since we came to government in 2022, including $23.8 billion in 2025-26. We have returned about 75 per cent of all tax receipt upgrades to the budget bottom line. At the same time, whilst repairing the budget responsibly, we've made room for significant investments to support households with cost-of-living pressures and to strengthen Medicare and housing. In addition to that, we've been dealing with automatic spending pressures across social security payments, natural disasters, veterans payments and aged care.

Senator Darmanin, first supplementary?

Thank you for that, Minister. What approach has the Albanese Labor government taken to finding savings as an important part of responsible budget management, despite the pressures on the budget increasing?

I note those opposite find that question funny, about finding savings. You found none! You increased the debt, two-thirds of which was increased before the COVID pandemic, though you'd like to rewrite those facts as well. On an almost daily basis, we see commitments from the opposition to spend more—no savings, spend more; let's just spend a whole lot more. On their logic alone, that would be worse for the economy right now.

We have found significant savings because it's the right thing to do to make sure the budget has room to meet the pressures that we need to deal with in our economy, whether it be in defence, NDIS, social security, health care or aged care. That is what a responsible government does: it finds savings to fund the areas of need.

Senator Darmanin, second supplementary?

How is the Albanese Labor government continuing its work to strengthen the budget position in the lead-up to the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook?

We'll continue the approach that we've taken in the previous budgets in MYEFO, where we will look to continue to find savings, and that work is underway now. We recognise that getting the budget in better shape—and we have done so—is important if we are to meet the very significant funding pressures that are coming our way. Now, the pressures on the budget are not decreasing; they are increasing in almost every area. They are increasing in aged care, in health care, in defence, in national security—in all of those important areas that the government needs to fund. In order to do that, we need to tighten our belt and find savings in other areas of government administration. That's what we've done to date, with $178 billion worth of savings and reprioritisations, and you'll see that approach continued in MYEFO.