Scott Morrison has defended his government’s position to keep the budget in surplus despite the ongoing drought and bushfire crises. The prime minister said keeping the budget in surplus is equivalent to “taking out insurance for the climate”.
“It is taking out insurance for the climate in which we are living. I would come at it from a different perspective and to say it is a wise investment,” he told the National Press Club.
Earlier this month Mr Morrison flagged the surplus was no longer the government’s focus and that it would spend as much as it needs to get the country back on track following the bushfires.
On the government’s emissions targets, Mr Morrison doubled down on his position that he would not put jobs in jeopardy in order to reach more ambitious targets.
“I am not going to sell out Australians based on the calls from some to put higher taxes on them or push up their electricity prices or to abandon their jobs and their industries and tell them they are collateral damage of a global movement,” he said.
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