why do we so desperately need to be in surplus, page-42

what the lib pundits fail to remember is that much of the present debt is due to the spending spree that rescued this place from the gfc. much of any 'surplus' that the libs achieved aka howard was due to various sell offs ...remember telstra for example???
you cannot simply go on and on about labors drunken sailor spending without putting it into a context. if the mining industry and its cohorts on the liberal party hadnt 'defeated; the super profits tax then the 'debt' wouldnt be allegedly so 'bad' and we would have something to show for the mining 'boom'.... but alas the vested interests in this country won the day as they always do...and the mug punter pays the price.
even costello reckons the libs are on a hiding to no where with such massive cuts and applied taxes///oops i mean levies.