SENATOR KATY GALLAGHER
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE
SENATOR FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY 

The October 2020 Monthly Financial Statements confirm that the Morrison Government is on track to deliver the biggest debt and deficit on record, plunging the nations finances deeply into the red but without a clear plan on how to fix it.
 
This Coalition Government has spent the last seven years repeatedly breaking core promises made to the Australian people about delivering budget surpluses every year and getting debt under control.
 
But after seven years of economic mismanagement all the Liberals have delivered so far is six budget deficits and the doubling of debt prior to the COVID-19 pandemic reaching Australia.
 
Just four months into the financial year the October numbers show the Budget is on track to report a record deficit in excess of $200 billion for 2021-22 with almost half a trillion dollars of cumulative deficits over the forward estimates.
 
Net debt has already exceeded $600 billion, well on the way to reaching the budget forecast of $700 billion.
 
These numbers should act as a warning to the Morrison Government that they must act with greater urgency and put in place sensible measures to respond to the recession and the jobs crisis or the budget will continue to deteriorate.
 
Under the Government’s current approach, unemployment will remain too high for too long and too many people will be left behind.
 
There are almost one million Australians already unemployed and another 160,000 expected to join them by the end of the year, 1.4 million Australians are underemployed and 1.6 million Australians are surviving on unemployment payments.
 
The Budget is structurally weakened after seven years of the Coalition Government and more recently by the COVID -19 pandemic. 

It’s clear that the budget won’t be fixed unless the Morrison Government fixes the jobs crisis. 

FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2020