SENATOR KATY GALLAGHER
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE
MANAGER OF OPPOSITION BUSINESS IN THE SENATE
CHAIR OF THE SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON COVID-19
SENATOR FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

The Independent Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has provided an update to its medium-term fiscal scenarios which show that even under the most optimistic scenario they expect a decade of deficits and higher debt ahead.
 
The update also estimate that the deficit could be more than $200 billion worse off than what was predicted in December last year, and even in the best case will be over $30 billion worse at the end of the decade.
 
The PBO also expects net debt being up to $800 billion higher and receipts $400 billion lower over the coming decade.
 
Despite promising otherwise, after seven years the Morrison Government has never delivered a budget surplus and they had doubled the debt to record highs before the pandemic hit.
 
The key take-out from the PBO update is that we can’t afford for the Government to get the economic recovery wrong. Serious budget repair will only begin once the economy starts to recover. 
 
The most important test of the Morrison Government’s management of the recession and its aftermath is what happens to jobs and the businesses which create them.
 
Vulnerable workers, businesses and communities need and deserve a plan from the Morrison Government to promote growth, protect and create jobs, support business and set Australia up for the recovery.
 
MONDAY, 24 AUGUST 2020