Today the Treasurer has confirmed the deficit for 2015-16 soared to $40 billion, which is 8 times bigger than estimated the day the Coalition took office.

The 2015-16 Final Budget Outcome shows that net debt reached $296 billion at the end of last financial year, which is $77 billion more than projected when Labor left office.

This comes on the back of the Coalition’s last Budget which projected net debt blowing out by over $100 billion in 2016-17.

For all their bluff and bluster and all their lectures about moral responsibility, these new numbers ram home the extent of Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison’s fiscal failures.

It beggars belief that the Turnbull Government expects a pat on the back for a $35 billion blowout in the deficit and a $77 billion blowout in net debt in 2015-16.

The deficit revealed today is more than 8 times the $4.7 billion projected for 2015-16 in the 2013 Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Outlook (PEFO).

Delving deeper into the Final Budget Outcome reveals that the figures for 2015-16 have been artificially improved by delays in payments to the states – money that will have to be paid in the future.

The numbers prove what has long been suspected: when it comes to Budget repair this Government is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Their $50 billion tax cut for big multinational companies will make the Budget much worse and further jeopardise Australia’s hard-won AAA credit rating.

The Turnbull Government is risking a rating downgrade, which would make Australia much more vulnerable in the event of an economic downturn. In such a scenario, families would pay more for their mortgages, and there would be more money spent on government interest payments and less money for infrastructure and healthcare.

Labor has led the conversation when it comes to Budget repair and will continue to display the fiscal and economic leadership Malcolm Turnbull has failed to deliver.

FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2016

MEDIA CONTACTS: TAIMUS WERNER-GIBBINGS 0437 320 393