Karma is a bitch. After spending five years lambasting the former Labor Government over their so-called reckless spending and a “budget emergency”, and voting against similar moves when Labor increased the debt limit to $300 billion in May 2012, Treasurer Joe Hockey’s bill to increase the federal debt limit to $500 billion has been defeated by the Senate today, with Labor and the Greens instead voting to increase the limit to $400 billion.
As a result, the amended debt ceiling bill will now return to the House of Representatives, where the government can either accept the new lower debt limit or continue to fight for a higher cap.
According to Opposition Treasury spokesman, Chris Bowen:
…the government had come “nowhere near close” to justifying its proposed increase.
He said Mr Hockey would have been “laughed out of the bank” if he’d sought a loan with such little justification.
“We have taken a reasonable approach,” Mr Bowen said.
“We are more than happy to vote for a debt limit increase and we have, of $100 billion – not a small amount, a very significant amount.”
He said if the government needed more than $400bn it should return to the parliament, asking for a raise in the limit following its mid-year “mini-budget” showing the impact of post-election spending decisions.
The Coalition would have acted no differently in opposition, except maybe opposing an increase altogether.
