[applause] the new pitics, plural politics, partnership politics, coalition politics is the politics the nation needs today. the liberals and conservatives will always be separate branches with distinct histories and different futures, but for this parliament we work together to fix the problems we face and put the country on a better path. this is the right government for right now. [applause] our first job, however, is a difficult one. balancing the budget. i did not come into politics to make spending cuts. but it is the only choice if we want to steer ourselves out of the economic mess labour made. it is the only choice if we want to bring back hope and optimism to our nation. you cannot see the debts mounting upp. talk to your friends. you will not see the signs of our debt odeficit. the numbers sod alarming, but in the end they are just numbers. it does not feel like we cannot afford it. so how did this debt crisis happened? put simply, over the course of the recession, 6% of our economy disappeared. the shock was so profound that even though the economy is growing today, we ar