Surplus, growth both achievable: Liberal senator

Assistant finance minister Zed Seselja has defended the government’s pursuit of a surplus this financial year.

Liberal Senator Zed Seselja. Picture: AAP

Assistant finance minister Zed Seselja has defended the government’s pursuit of a surplus this financial year, despite calls for more stimulatory measures to boost the sluggish economy.

The ACT senator said he doesn’t accept the notion that economic growth and a surplus can’t both be achieved.

“It has been a long road to get there and if not now then when? It is not a neither/or prospect. Often they (growth, surplus) can go together and we would anticipate that they will,” he said.

“I think it also delivers confidence that if there are more serious economic headwinds in the future internationally that we have got the capacity to deal with it.

“But while delivering that surplus we have got record investment in key areas of services, record investment in infrastructure, we are cutting taxes for individuals, we are cutting taxes for businesses.”

Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Catherine King called on the government to bring forward stage two of its income tax package to stimulate the economy.

“The government is the only people in the country who seem to be saying that there is nothing wrong with the economy,” Ms King told the ABC.

“When you’ve got the Reserve Bank governor giving the warnings that he’s giving, saying that he has run to the limits of monetary policy and it is up to the government now to do some heavy lifting, the government’s only proposal is the stage one tax cuts that come into effect now. It’s not brought stage two forward. They don’t come into effect until 2022.

“The economy needs stimulus now. And that’s the problem. The government doesn’t seem to have a plan. It’s in denial that the economy is in trouble. We’ve got interest rates three times lower than they were in the global financial crisis.”