Labor’s Debt ‘Robbing the Future’: O’Brien Says, yet to Offer Detail on Future Plan

Despite accusing the government of reckless spending, the Coalition refused to specify savings, tax offsets or energy price impacts.

Australia's Deputy Leader of the Opposition Ted O'Brien (R) speaks at a press conference with Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on May 13, 2025. Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images

CANBERRA, Australia—Shadow Federal Treasurer Tim O’Brien has criticised Labor’s economic management, saying that the Albanese government had blown a record tax windfall while driving up spending.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Nov. 26, O’Brien said record tax receipts had created “rivers of gold” for the Treasury, yet the budget was still heading for a decade of deficits.

“Most people use the extra cash they have to pay down debt, to pay down their mortgage,” he said. “But this Labor government does not reflect those same values.”

O'Brien’s comments refer to Treasury’s Final Budget Outcome (pdf) released in September that showed Australia’s finances tracking far stronger than expected, with an underlying cash deficit of just under $10 billion—far below the $27.9 billion forecast before the 2025 election.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the result marked a “$209 billion turnaround” over three years, delivering cumulative cash surpluses of $28 billion compared with more than $181 billion in Coalition-era deficits.

Treasury also reported gross debt was $188 billion lower than expected, saving $60 billion in interest over the decade.

However, O’Brien said that Labor has simply been the “beneficiary” of a record $255 billion in net budget upgrades.

“Had the treasurer simply sat on his hands and allowed this windfall to pay down debt, it would have fallen by $241 billion,” O’Brien said, claiming debt was instead just $147 billion lower with “roughly $100 billion” spent.

Spending Blowout Claims

O’Brien noted real spending under Labor jumped 5.5 percent above inflation—compared with just 0.4 percent in the Coalition’s final 2022 budget.

“Labor delivered real spending growth last year that was 13 times higher than what we budgeted for,” he said.

When pressed on what a Coalition government would cut or how it would fund tax relief, O’Brien declined to specify any offsets.

“To spend, you have to find offsets,” he said. “It is not the responsibility of an opposition to find the offsets for a government’s spending priorities.”

Energy Fight Continues

With the government under pressure over rising bills, O’Brien was challenged to quantify how the Coalition’s plan—ditching net zero and keeping coal plants open longer—would lower prices.

He did not name a dollar figure, instead pointing to avoided infrastructure costs.

“One of the economic benefits of that is you don’t have to invest so much into transmission lines … probably around 50 percent of your bill is your network charges. One of the benefits of the plan we have [is] cost avoidance,” he said.

When asked whether bills were rising regardless of government, O’Brien agreed, and said: “I think you are right,” adding that the issue “comes down to trust.”

“Over the last term of the Coalition government alone, energy prices came down by 10 percent, emissions also came down,” he said.

While the Coalition has been critical of government spending and rebates, when asked if it would back continuing electricity rebates, O’Brien again withheld details.

“We will wait to see if the treasurer wishes to put something on the table … we will weigh it up constructively and we will respond,” he said.

Chalmers has indicated that the government is contemplating extending rebates and that a decision would be made in the next few months.

Taxes, Debt and Productivity

O’Brien also criticised Labor for leaning too heavily on personal income tax to stabilise the budget.

“Personal income taxes last financial year were $74 billion or 28 percent higher than under the Coalition. That’s $5,000 a year for every taxpayer,” he said, claiming that Labor plans to increase personal income taxes by nearly half a trillion dollars over the next decade.

Appealing directly to younger voters, O’Brien argued Australia’s intergenerational compact was breaking down.

“In the last three years, productivity growth hasn’t just been sluggish, it has gone backwards by an extraordinary 5 percent,” he said.

“That has dire implications for our children and grandchildren … for their real wages, for their capacity to pay down that massive debt.”

He warned migration pressures were also adding to the strain.

Nuclear Pitch

As the former shadow energy minister, O’Brien again pushed for nuclear energy over Labor’s current renewables approach.

“Nothing should be left off [the table]. Yet Labor is forcing the premature closure of coal plants … and they refuse to even contemplate nuclear energy,” he said.

Labor’s renewable transition, he said, was “lowering productivity.”

“It is the polar opposite of the Industrial Revolution, if anything, it is revolution in de industrialisation. Labor’s dogged pursuit of its net zero energy transition will ultimately hold Australia back from seizing the AI opportunity,” he added.