Original article by Phillip Coorey, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 30-Apr-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is continuing to attract scrutiny over his claims regarding the size of the budget deficit that Labor inherited in May 2022. Albanese recently responded to a report from S&P Global on the future of Australia’s triple-A credit rating by stating that the Coalition had left Labor with a $78bn deficit, which it subsequently turned into a $22bn surplus. However, the $78bn deficit was merely a Treasury forecast during the 2022 election campaign, and the final budget outcome for 2021-22 was a deficit of just $32bn. The surplus of $22bn was in fact for 2022-23, which was Labor’s first full financial year in office.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY