NEW England MP Barnaby Joyce has floated the notion of selling off some of the federal government's assets to help the country pay back its debt from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The federal government's budget update revealed the country has plunged more than $850 billion into debt and will face a $184.5 billion deficit by the end of this financial year.
The former Deputy Prime Minister told reporters on Friday he believed "the only way a government can repay debt is with the sale of government assets".
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"People have to acknowledge that, people have to be aware of the situation we find ourselves in," Mr Joyce said.
"The idea that we will not have a balanced budget until 2041, or be able to repay debt until 2061, first of all is fanciful because so much can change before 2061, just like how so much has changed since 2010 when I was the Shadow Finance Minister.
"This will mean that our children and grandchildren will be repaying this debt."
When asked what assets the government could look to sell off, Mr Joyce said the government would "have to make the hard decisions".
"People might say 'that's outrageous', my question to them is what is your solution?," he said.
"Any treasurer or finance minister will have to have a plan of how to repay this debt.
"You can't say it won't be repaid until 2061 because between now and then there will be further issues.
"People will say that's unpopular, I'm a back-bencher I can tell you the truth.
"If you have an alternative truth on how to repay the debt, then you tell me what it is."
The New England MP's comments come after the federal government announced it would extend the JobKeeper scheme until March next year under modified conditions.
"At this stage, the debt created by these two programs is around $70 billion, which is about where our total debt was sitting when I was the Shadow Finance Minister," Mr Joyce said.
"As for the calls for pandemic leave, you can make any request you like, but you have to understand it comes with a cost.
"You've got to make a plan to pay this back and we can not go on like this, it can not continue like this."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
