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

Scott Morrison’s economic credibility is in tatters with new government figures showing that the promised surplus is narrowing and net debt has blown out to a new record high.

For a government that promised to have a surplus in their first year and every year after that all they have delivered are deficits.

The Government promised to pay down debt but instead it has more than doubled on their watch.

Today’s budget bottom line is $3.7b worse off than what was predicted in the budget update in December despite Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg’s ironclad commitment that the budget was already ‘back in the black’.

Today’s figures also show that net debt has blown out to a new record high of $430 billion - more than double the $174.6 billion they inherited when they came to office.

With these results it’s no wonder why the Government tried to quietly walk away from its pre-election promise to eliminate net debt by 2029-30, a promise it had made just eight months earlier.

Labor has been saying for months that Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg should have been rolling out an plan to protect an economy that was already floundering well before the bushfire crisis and Coronavirus outbreak hit.

This Government’s arrogance and continued lack of action to respond to an economy that was clearly weakening last year is resulting in serious deterioration of the budget and this is prior to the impact of bushfire’s and coronavirus becoming known.

Every financial update since the budget in April has downgraded this Government’s economic forecasts and today’s results confirm that this trend is continuing and still the government sits on its hands.

When growth is slowing, unemployment is rising, wages are stagnant and people are worried now is the time for leadership and an economic plan and Scott Morrison has been incapable of providing either.

Ultimately it’s the Australian people who will pay the price for this Government’s inaction.

FRIDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2020

Authorised by Paul Erickson, ALP, Canberra.