Senator Dave Sharma
Australia has passed a grim milestone. Gross government debt has surged past $1 trillion for the first time in our history.
For many in the Indian Australian diaspora who came to this country to build a better future — through small businesses, trades, healthcare, IT and professional work — this isn’t an abstract number.
It’s a bill that lands on every taxpayer, including the thousands of Indian Australian- families running small businesses, working double shifts, and trying to get ahead in one of the most expensive cost-of-living environments in a generation.
Interest repayments on this debt are now the fastest-growing single item in the federal budget. This financial year they will around $30 billion — roughly the entire annual bill for Medicare.
That works out to about $2,300 a year in interest for every taxpayer. Money that isn’t going to hospitals, roads, schools or small business support. It’s going straight to servicing debt. And it’s only getting worse. Government debt is projected to keep growing under this government, reaching $1.25 trillion within three years. Worse still, interest rates on this debt are far higher than they used to be — around 5% today, compared to less than 2% a few years ago.
Recently in Parliament, I asked what the government’s strategy was to get this debt under control. The answer? There isn’t one.
This government talks constantly about “intergenerational fairness.” But there is nothing fair about saddling our children — many of whom are the next generation growing up in migrant families across this country — with a mountain of debt and a crushing interest burden they had no say in creating.
For the Indian Australian community who have built their lives on the values of hard work, saving, and building something for future generations, this should matter deeply.
Labor is steering Australia toward a high debt, low-growth economy. An economy restricted by heavy government spending, high taxes, excessive regulation, and a small business sector under real pressure.
Many of our community’s small business owners — in retail, hospitality, transport, IT services and beyond — are already telling me how hard it has become to stay afloat.
That is why the next election matters so much. It will be our chance to change course before this economic mismanagement becomes irreversible, and before the bill gets handed to a generation that never agreed to it.
Contributing Author: Dave Sharma is Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Shadow Assistant Minister for International Development and the Indo-Pacific, and Senator for New South Wales
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