Treasurer Joe Hockey with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann in Canberra. Photo: Andrew Meares
Treasurer Joe Hockey has announced the Coalition will be raising the federal government's debt limit from $300 billion to $500 billion.
Speaking to reporters in Canberra on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Hockey said he wanted to avoid what had happened recently in the United States – where Democrats and Republican bickering brought government to a near standstill – and he wanted to ensure that the debt limit issue was never raised again.
"This is a legacy of bad Labor government," Mr Hockey said on Tuesday in a press conference in Canberra.
Mr Hockey also announced details of the government's commission of audit. Former Howard government minister Amanda Vanstone has been appointed to the five-member panel overseeing efforts to reduce government costs.
The audit of government spending, which has sparked fears in the public service of large-scale job losses, will be chaired by the Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd.
More to come
