JOURNALIST: The debt is still going up, is that sleight of hand?
WONG: No, not at all. What we have to do is to pay down debt, which means bringing the Budget back to surplus. And thats why the Budgets coming back to surplus next year, with surpluses growing over the next four years. Thats why weve made the savings decisions weve made in this Budget.
JOURNALIST: But Tony Abbott says that, you know, youve lifted the debt ceiling by $50 billion. And what are you going to get? One and a half billion this time around. That doesnt seem to add up.
WONG: Actually, if you look at the Budget figures, we will stay under the current debt cap for each year of the forward estimates at the end of each year. What this increase is about is what we call the variability within the year, because you get a bit of mismatch in terms of money coming in and money going out and different Government bonds maturing at different times.
But whats important is the return to surplus. Weve made $34 billion worth of savings in order to make sure we return to surplus; a very large reduction in government expenditure, a very large reduction in the size of government. But we know its the right thing to do because thats what gives the Reserve Bank the room to move, like it already has, and what gives us a buffer in a pretty uncertain global world.
JOURNALIST: But economists have already said this morning that this wont have any effect on the Reserve Banks room to move. That its politics, not real economics.
WONG: Different economists will say different things, wont they? What we can say is this: that if you run at a time where youve got an economy returning to trend growth, to make sure Government doesnt add to price pressures is precisely how you ensure you give monetary policy more room to move. And thats what were doing. Because we understand, at this time, how welcome these interest rate cuts are. We also understand we do need to return the Budget to surplus so we have that buffer. We still see uncertainty overseas, and we need to ensure we have that.
JOURNALIST: When it comes to the disadvantaged in our society, there are some wins. But Mr Abbott just pointed out that the Productivity Commission suggested much more money for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
WONG: Mr Abbott cant come on this program and say, Look, I dont like what this Governments doing and they should cut more and then say we should spend more. When it comes to National Disability Insurance Scheme, what this Government has done is brought forward the date that the Productivity Commission suggested in terms of the test sites. Weve announced how we will handle the launch. We do need to take this through a proper testing process. But this is a really important Labor reform. Its a big reform and weve got to work with the states and work with people with a disability and their families to get it right.
JOURNALIST: St Vinnies have come out and really been quite damning of both sides. They say both sides of federal politics have agreed there is an existence of an undeserving core. How do you respond?
WONG: What Id say is, look at what weve done with this Budget. What we have said is were going to spread the benefits of the boom and this is how were going to do it. Were going to increase family payments, with a priority for those on low incomes, families at the lower end of the scale. Were going to increase were going to give people on income support a supplementary allowance, and were going to give a Schoolkids Bonus so, families with kids in school will get $820 for secondary students of $410 for primary students. Because we understand that families have very substantial education expenses. By the way, this is one of the measures Tony Abbott is opposing. Hes opposing us bringing forward the support for schoolkids and parents with kids in schools.
JOURNALIST: Senator Penny Wong, thanks very much.
ENDS