"...it would have taken generations to pay off the debt...frasier"
Neither political party intend to pay down the debt. Because even without paying anything off the debt, and no policy changes, the net debt is projected to return to zero in 2023-24 (from the PEFO).
And before discarding the above, have a look at how Australia's debt has been treated for the last 100 years plus.
A good example is when Australia's debt over a 5 year period dropped around 70% of GDP without anything being paid towards the debt. Debt was around 120% of GDP, 5 years later, debt was around 50% of GDP during a period of budget deficits.
