Scott Morrison and the Liberals have no excuses for their mismanagement of the Australian economy and Budget as well as record and growing debt, a new report has confirmed.
 
Deloitte Access Economics, in its latest Budget Monitor, has indicated next month’s Budget will be framed by a weakening economy, but a surge in revenue on the back of company profits and commodity prices:
 
“The economy is getting worse, but the Budget’s getting better.”
 
The Liberals have mismanaged the domestic economic, which is suffering from negative per capita growth, weak wages growth and flat productivity growth, and yet the Government is irresponsibly riding on the coat tails of another temporary commodity price resurgence.
 
Deloitte used the report to join calls from others, including the IMF, to rebuild fiscal buffers to prepare in the event of an economic downturn:
 
“The current run of good news on commodity prices (and company profits) could just as easily turn nasty, leaving a China-shaped hole in the nation’s finances.”
 
Despite billions of dollars in revenue pouring through the door and the urgent need for Budget repair, the Liberals have racked up record and growing debt and left the Budget in a much worse position than they inherited it from Labor, which had a Global Financial Crisis to contend with.
 
On the Liberals’ watch, net debt has more than doubled to a new record high of $373.4 billion and gross debt has crashed through half-a-trillion dollars for the first time ever in the country’s history.
 
Since becoming Prime Minister just over six months ago, Scott Morrison has already added about $21 billion in net debt – or about $135 million a day.
 
Deloitte was particularly critical of the Liberals’ unrealistic wages forecasts, which mean the Budget is likely to be in even worse shape than expected:
 
“The gap between Treasury’s forecast of wages and ours (or, for that matter, those of the Reserve Bank) grows steadily over time.
 
Any objective look at the facts shows the Liberals are far from the superior economic and fiscal managers they claim to be: debt is at record highs, growth has slowed, wages are stagnant, living standards have stalled and demand is lagging.
 
Labor has made the tough calls when it comes to repairing the Budget and growing our economy in an inclusive and sustainable way in the interests of ordinary Australians.
 
At the same time as we properly fund schools, hospitals and infrastructure, Labor is the only party with a plan to pay down the Liberals’ record debt and build the fiscal buffers we need while the economic circumstances allow.