Jim Chalmers is seemingly fighting his worse angels to just let loose at Taylor and says:

We don’t expect that, and that’s what I said earlier in the week, and Peter Dutton has lied about that multiple times since then.

And given the fact you have spent a lot of money and over the last 50 years, this is one of the highest spending governments, except for COVID, in the history of Australia, over that period of time.

Q: So what I’m wondering is, what shape is the government’s budget in right now, after that spending? Because even yesterday, the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would keep on spending. He sees no reason not to keep on spending.

Well, first of all, it is important to remind everyone that we expect the Australian economy to continue to grow, and Angus and Peter Dutton should stop lying about that. That’s an important correction, an early correction, when it comes to the space in the budget. The budget is in a much stronger position now than it was three years ago, and that’s because I’ve delivered two budget surpluses. There’s been a $207 billion cumulative improvement to the budget. Bottom line, the debt this year is $177 billion than what we inherited. That’s saving $60 billion in debt interest over the course of the next decade today, and that gives us over the next 10 years, because that’s the issue, is that gives us more room, if necessary, to respond to these difficult global conditions