Prime Minister Anthony Albanese deflects worries about Australia's growing national debt, attributing the fiscal burden to the previous Coalition government. Despite the budget projecting a debt exceeding $1 trillion by 2025-26, Albanese emphasizes past Labor surpluses and highlights fiscal improvements under his administration.
The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has attempted to shift the responsibility for Australia 's growing national debt to the previous Coalition government during a heated post-Budget interview with Sky News host Peter Stefanovic on Wednesday morning. Albanese sought to downplay concerns surrounding Australia 's gross debt, despite the budget revealing it will exceed $1 trillion in 2025-26 and continue to rise annually thereafter.
Stefanovic questioned Albanese on Sky News' First Edition about whether Labor's short-term budgetary solutions in the budget would ultimately burden future generations. Albanese refuted this claim, emphasizing the government's long-term focus and referencing past surpluses achieved under his leadership. He highlighted that the budget, while failing to achieve a third consecutive surplus, significantly reduced the deficit compared to the Morrison government's final budget in 2022. Albanese touted the government's fiscal measures, including $100 billion in savings over three years, resulting in an almost $180 billion improvement in the budget bottom line and a projected $207 billion improvement going forward.He acknowledged inheriting a challenging fiscal situation with a $78 billion deficit, criticizing the lack of funding for essential services like Medicare and education. Albanese underscored the government's efforts to address these issues while managing inflation. A key budgetary focus was a new tax cut for every Australian, promising to return approximately $5 per week to taxpayers annually amidst rising living costs. These tax cuts, estimated to return $536 to average earners upon full implementation, have been met with opposition from the Coalition. Albanese criticized this stance, warning Australians that Opposition Leader Peter Dutton would cut essential services while prioritizing tax cuts. He pointed to Dutton's previous record of $50 billion in healthcare cuts and $30 billion in education cuts, suggesting similar cuts would occur under his leadership.
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