In the 2013-14 Budget, the Gillard Government has made $43.0 billion of responsible and targeted savings over the forward estimates that improve the budget bottom line.
These savings improve the sustainability of Australias public finances and ensure we can make smart investments for the future.
They allow us to put in place the nation-building reforms that set Australia up for future success, and provide sustainable funding for the National Plan for School Improvement and DisabilityCare Australia.
These savings contribute to returning the budget to surplus over the forward estimates and deliver a sensible pace of fiscal consolidation.
This has been achieved despite revenue write downs of around $60 billion over four years since the 2012-13 Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
The net impact of new policy decisions in this Budget is an improvement in the budget bottom line of $28.4 billion over the forward estimates.
The savings in this Budget bring the total amount of savings identified in the last six budgets by Federal Labor to around $180billion.
Many of the savings in this Budget will improve the budget position over time. Significant longterm savings measures include a modest increase in the Medicare Levy to fund DisabilityCare, reforms to family payments that improve the sustainability of the system, and phasing out the poorlytargeted net medical expenses tax offset.
When added to the long-term savings the Government has already made since our first budget in 2008-09, these savings mean the cumulative budget position is better off by $300billion by 202021.
Consistent with our past approach, the Gillard Government has found savings in a responsible and targeted manner that protects jobs and growth and enables smart investments for the future.
A list of major savings in the 2013-14 Budget is presented in the table attached.