Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Minister for Finance, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:18): Indeed, we do face, globally, the biggest economic disruption since World War II. So it is not surprising that, in responding to the first global pandemic in a century, in responding to the biggest economic disruption to the world since World War II, in responding through programs like JobKeeper—which those opposite argued should have been bigger and lasted for longer, yet now they come in here with great hypocrisy and seek to criticise the level of debt—we would face those circumstances. An opposition senator interjecting— Senator BIRMINGHAM: I am addressing specifically the question that was asked and the quote that was there. It is clear that, across the world, there's been a significant increase in government debt. Australia has now managed to deliver a budget that sees a reduction in what was projected as government debt than was expected last year. (Time expired)