Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, they have to be processed. As much as the member for North Sydney is interrupting me out of embarrassment for the point he knows is inexorably coming at the coalition’s straw man argument like a barrelling B-double, I said in my earlier contribution that the net debt number would be finalised in August. What this would mean is that people who lodge their tax return on 1 July would have to wait beyond 30 July until whenever the figure is available in August.

I am vaguely grateful for the extensive, extemporaneous and somewhat cliched contributions from some of the members of the opposition—not the ones I mentioned before by name—because what I have discovered is that the Australian government net debt is not published as part of the final budget outcome; it is generally published before the end of September. For example, if we were to lose our senses and in some sort of random act of legislative madness all vote for this Liberal amendment—

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