Andrew’s suggestion that the Pre-election Fiscal Outlook should provide the benchmark for assessing Labor’s fiscal record overlooks the fact that the accuracy and impartiality of Treasury’s forecasts was, and is, part of the problem. Treasury consistently over-estimated revenue growth and consequently predicted surpluses that never materialised.

Today’s MYEFO shows exactly the same problem. The ballooning deficit in the out-years is almost entirely due to changes in “economic parameters”, not policy decisions. The $4.7 billion surplus predicted in for 2016-17 in the PEFO has turned into a $17.7 billion deficit. Of this turnaround, $1.2b is due to policy decisions and $20.6b is due to “parameter and other variations” – mainly economic growth being less than predicted at election time (Table 3.4 p.29).

http://www.budget.gov.au/2013-14/content/myefo/download/2013_14_MYEFO.pdf

Clearly, Labor left behind a massive structural deficit. They can partly be excused, however, on the grounds that Treasury failed to tell them about it until it was too late.

"They can partly be excused, however, on the grounds that Treasury failed to tell them about it until it was too late."

That is disingenuous. The ALP/Green coalition needed no assistance from treasury.

The NBN was un-costed and it represents a massive fraud on the Australian public.

The Pink Batts disaster was a product of ALP incompetence and if there is any justification, Rudd, as the architect of this tragedy should be prosecuted.

Rudd is also responsible for the turn-a-round in boat-people policy and therein the vast amounts of money spent on that.

The so-called rescue package initiated by Rudd and overseen by the economic illiterate Swan to combat the GFC was a joke as is explained here:

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=15130

In fact if the author of this egregious article can point to ONE program initiated by the ALP/Greens coalition which was well run and had a lasting cost/benefit to this nation I would be surprised.

ALP was a disaster for this nation, economically and in every other respect. Attempts to rewrite history like this article only rubs salt into the wound.

Andrew, just because you reason by starting at the conclusion you want and working backwards picking facile disconnected pretexts in hopes of deceiving anyone dumb enough to believe you, it, doesn't mean everyone else does the same.

Any economic improvement under the Rudd and Gillard governments was obviously despite,not because of them. A bigger pack of incompetent bumblers never disgraced the political stage in all the history of Australia.

Anyone who thinks that the massive and criminal waste of the pink batts and BER fiascoes actually made Australia richer needs a lesson, not just in basic economics, but in logical thought.

But of course when you don't care that what you're saying is untrue, you don't care that it's not logical either.

'As Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen has pointed out, Labor's six years in office saw our economy grow from the 15th largest in the world to the 12th largest. In terms of income per person, we rose from 17th to 8th. This success has been recognised by respected international institutions such as the IMF.

Through the deepest global downturn since the Great Depression, our economy continued to create jobs. And for someone with a $300,000 mortgage, Labor's lower interest rates meant a saving of over $100 a week'.

It just shows that Leigh is not intellectually honest about why Aust's position improved, and just another propagandist. Another politician who chooses to bs.

Heaven help us, he is supposed to be part of Labor's future.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4809588.html
Koukoulas lays out some facts for those who draw comparisons between governments and debt.

I tend to agree with: "Mr Abbott has said that "prudent fiscal management is in the Coalition's DNA". Maybe that DNA is malformed and prone to twists, spin and distortions because the facts over four decades of fiscal policy in Australia prove otherwise."

The LNP bad-mouthed our economy for its political ends for six years leading to the last election and is still operating in slogan mode. We continue being scared and softened up for broken promises made and yet to come with claims we are becoming a Greece or Cyprus. Tiresome stuff from a bunch of cowboys with gravitas who don't seem to be able to get anything right so far.

Meanwhile the Reserve Bank has finally gotten serious about the exchange rate, which is one of the biggest factors that can help exporters along once their capital outlays have peaked, as is so for the miners.

Holden is a basket case because it made cars people don't want while the dollar has been extremely high. All hands now to the survival of Toyota to keep an engineering/manufacturing base from which we can grow a future.

Chris, herebwe go again, all this jobs created.

So, what about the jobs lost?

Or don't they matter, because unless I'm mistaken, if you creat jobs to the tune of one million, then shouldn't unemployment go down?

As for low interest rates, do you honestly believe that is a result of good governing do you.

WOW!

It's frustrating to think where we could have been had the previous labor governments not wasted so much.

And to think they were left with dollars in the bank.