Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said yesterday the government needed to rein in spending amid fears that Europe’s sovereign debt problems could become an election issue this year.
The government on Tuesday released an economic plan to return its annual budget to surplus by the 2012-2013 fiscal year — three years earlier than was forecast a year ago.
A record surplus forecast in Rudd’s first annual budget announced in early 2008 became a record deficit as the government borrowed billions of dollars to stimulate the economy during the global economic downturn.
Even so, the nation’s debt remains extremely low by the standards of other developed economies. Growth has also been sustained by Chinese and Indian demand for Australian mineral and energy resources.
Rudd told Radio 3AW his government was confident it would return the budget to surplus “in a time when, frankly, most other governments around the world will be swimming in deficit for many, many, many years to come.”
“Despite what’s happening around the world at the moment, it’s time for the government to pull back” on spending, he said.
Rudd, who will seek a second three-year term as prime minister at elections on a date yet to be announced later this year, said the government’s stimulus spending and strategy to repay all government debt by 2018-2019 demonstrated its responsible economic management.
However, opposition leader Tony Abbott said that the government borrowed too heavily to keep Australia out of recession and could not be trusted to pay back the debt.
“Why does the prime minister only become an economic conservative at election time?” Abbott asked Rudd in parliament.
“Why would anyone believe that after three years of being addicted to binge spending, with an election looming, that the prime minister can now go cold turkey?” Abbott said.
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