In a triumph of political myth over realty, PM candidate Mathias Cormann has appeared to hose down notions of any fiscal stimulus:
“The government is doing as we said consistently, for some time, we are getting the budget back to surplus as soon as possible, we are not locking ourselves into an artificial deadline – we are obviously mindful of the fact that we need to make decisions that are both fiscally and economically responsible,” he told Sky News.
“Based on the numbers in the budget, the return to surplus is forecast, it is projected for 2020/21.”
He said the government had shaved $250 billion, in net terms, off the budget’s bottom line since coming to power in 2013 and was focussed on ensuring “that we don’t go backwards as a result of the policy decisions that we are making”.
