Cormann, Sen Mathias

Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Minister for Finance, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate and Special Minister of State) (14:14): We inherited from the previous Labor government a budget position that was rapidly deteriorating on the back of unsustainable, unfunded and unaffordable spending promises made in the dying days of the previous Labor government. We did as the previous Labor government did, incidentally: in their dying days they increased the efficiency dividend that applied across government agencies. Obviously, the resourcing of government agencies is always under review, and relevant announcements will be made in the context of the budget.