'Also the Howard government was over generous with our money, handing it out hand over fist in housing grants and the like. Creating a housing boom which exploded wages up in some sectors. Howard chucked too much wood on the fire creating too much demand. This was the beginning of the end for the poor and disadvantaged but great for the wealthy.'
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http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=4602
Howard left federal Budget in surplus (letter)
by Senator Nick Minchin
Sir,
Patrick J. Byrne asserts that "in Howard's last year ... the federal Budget went into deficit ("Business leaders call for national investment fund", News Weekly, March 5, 2011).
This is wrong. The Howard Government left the federal Budget in surplus.
The last financial year of the Howard Government was 2007-08. As the current Budget papers affirm, the Budget outcome for 2007-08 was a surplus of $19.7 billion in underlying cash terms, and the fiscal balance was a surplus of $21 billion.
The federal Budget has been in deficit ever since that surplus in the last year of the Howard Government.
Senator the Hon. Nick Minchin, Liberal Senator for South Australia, Kent Town, SA
