Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister regret saying that the budget was already back in black?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition may have an ability that I don't have, and that is a crystal ball to see into the future and see that the coronavirus was going to impact on the Australian economy. Every time we have spoken about the economy, we have done it on the basis of the knowledge that we have and the certainties that are present at that time. It was, indeed, the case, as the midyear economic statement showed in December, that that is where the budget was. At that time, we were already in that position and that's where we were going. I can tell you that the reason we were in a position of having already brought the budget back to balance and being on the way to that surplus was the painstaking work our government did over six years.

This is an important issue. Our government has already demonstrated our ability after major crises to actually do the work and get budgets back into a positive position and ensure that we can get debt down when we're hit by a crisis, as we have been. I remember standing in this place last year when those opposite were encouraging us to spend and spend, and I came to this dispatch box and said, 'We must be careful, because we don't know what can happen in the future and the shocks that the Australian economy may be hit by.'

Well, that's exactly what happened. If we'd followed the prescription of those opposite we would have impaired the budget and we would not have been in the position that the Treasurer and I, and the government, have been in to extend the largest economic lifeline to this country we have ever seen. We were able to do that from a position of confidence, because we have spent six years ensuring that we got the budget under control, that we moved from a time when we inherited from the Labor Party a debt growing—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It was a very clear question—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, you just need to go to the point of order and please don't repeat it; we've got it.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It goes to relevance. The Prime Minister hasn't answered the question of whether he regrets saying the budget was already back in back.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. Just before I call the Prime Minister: it was a short question, and I note that in the Leader of the Opposition's mind it was very specific. But when you ask about whether you regret something, it's pretty hard for me to curtail the answer. So the Prime Minister is in order.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The point I was about to make is that when we came to government, our debt was growing at 30 per cent a year. Prior to this crisis we had brought that back down to a growth rate of around zero, and we did that over six years.

But I was asked about regrets. I can tell you one thing, Mr Speaker: the Australian people don't have regrets about what they did on May 19 last year. Because of the decisions and actions that have been taken by this government, we have ensured that we've been able to move through what has been a one-in-a-hundred-year event. And we remain focused on providing the leadership and the direction to ensure that we can continue to do that. We've extended the economic lifeline, and we will be in a position, through our careful economic management, to ensure that we grow our economy and to ensure that we put as little burden on future generations as is absolutely necessary to ensure Australia gets through this crisis.