OFFICIAL

Dear Ali Hydarbeg

We write to acknowledge receipt of your request, under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), seeking the following documents:

- Under the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd (under treasurers Wayne Swan and Chris
Bowen) government, treasury estimated that the budget would be back in
surplus from the 2016 to 2017 year.

- Under the elected Abbott-Turnbull government (under treasurers Joe
Hockey and Scott Morrison) the budget wasn't estimated to be back in
surplus until the 2020 season. (Which obviously didn't happen because of
Covid-19.)

- Can you provide any documents stating why we would under surplus faster
under the Rudd government that had higher spending and lower tax to GDP
ratio, then the elected Abbott-Turnbull government.

Seeking clarification of FOI request

Unfortunately we are unable to understand what you have asked in the third
paragraph of your request. Did you mean ‘Can you provide any documents
stating why we would return to surplus faster under the Rudd government
that had higher spending and lower tax to GDP ratio, then the elected
Abbott-Turnbull government’?

Please confirm if this interpretation of your request is current or,
otherwise, tell us what you are seeking by 15 July 2022.

FOI process

The Treasury received your request on 1 July 2022. The FOI Act provides
that we have 14 days to acknowledge the request. The FOI Act provides that
we have 30 days to process the request. This period may be extended if we
need to consult third parties or for other reasons. We will advise you if
this happens.

We will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request and the
amount of any such charge as soon as possible.

We make the following assumptions that affect the scope of the request.
These are set out below.

It is our usual practice:

• not to disclose the personal information of government employees or the
personal contact details of senior government employees (including those
of the Treasury). The names of senior officers will generally be released.

• not to release duplicates of any document captured within the scope of
the request.

• only the final version of a document will be considered within scope.

Please inform us if you do not agree to the request being processed on the
above assumptions. If we do not hear from you, your request will be
processed on the basis that these documents are outside the scope of your
request.

We will contact you using the email address you provided. Please advise if
you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact.

If you have any questions in relation to your application, please contact
the FOI Team on 02 6263 2800.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information Officer
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600

Phone: +61 2 6263 2800

Email: [1][Treasury request email]

[2]www.treasury.gov.au

OFFICIAL

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OFFICIAL

Dear Ali Hydarbeg,

Thank you for your clarification below.

In your FOI request, you stated that you are seeking information for an
essay regarding why we would return to surplus faster under the Rudd
government that had higher spending and lower tax to GDP ratio than the
elected Abbott-Turnbull government.

The 2013-14 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (2013-14 MYEFO) is a
publicly available document which contains information that may assist you
with your essay. That document can be found here:
[1]https://archive.budget.gov.au/2013-14/my.... The
2013-14 MYEFO provides information on the Commonwealth’s financial and
economic position, and contains information explaining the movement of the
estimated underlying cash balance (UCB) for 2016-17 from surplus to
deficit, including how the new Government planned to resolve legacy issues
from the former Government. The following pages may be of particular
relevance:

o Pages 2 -3 (pages 12 – 13 of 286) provide a high-level overview of the
deterioration in the UCB.
o Pages 19 – 23 (pages 29 – 33 of 286) contain more information on the
deterioration.
o Pages 29 – 39 (page 39 – 49 of 286) provide details on each aspect of
the deterioration.

If this information satisfies your queries, would you please withdraw your
FOI request by return email to enable us to close our file?

If you are minded to continue with your FOI request, we seek your
agreement to a 19-day extension of time to process your FOI request. Under
section 15AA of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) you can agree to
extensions of up to 30 days.

The current statutory timeframe is 31 July 2022. The extension of time
would extend this deadline to Friday 19 August 2022.

The additional time will be used to undertake further searches to
determine whether there may be other documents relevant to your request.

We would be grateful if you would agree to this 19-day extension of time
by COB Monday 25 July 2022.

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information Officer
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600

Phone: +61 2 6263 2800

Email: [2][Treasury request email]

[3]www.treasury.gov.au

OFFICIAL

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OFFICIAL

Dear Ali Hydarbeg,

I refer to FOI 3135 and our email below dated 22 July 2022.

We would be grateful if you could respond as a matter of urgency noting
that the statutory timeframe is 31 July 2022.

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information Officer
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600

Phone: +61 2 6263 2800

Email: [1][Treasury request email]

[2]www.treasury.gov.au

OFFICIAL

From: FOI <[email address]>
Sent: Friday, 22 July 2022 12:34 PM
To: 'Ali Hydarbeg' <[FOI #9070 email]>
Subject: FOI 3135 - Link to MYEFO document with relevant information
[SEC=OFFICIAL]

OFFICIAL

Dear Ali Hydarbeg,

Thank you for your clarification below.

In your FOI request, you stated that you are seeking information for an
essay regarding why we would return to surplus faster under the Rudd
government that had higher spending and lower tax to GDP ratio than the
elected Abbott-Turnbull government.

The 2013-14 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (2013-14 MYEFO) is a
publicly available document which contains information that may assist you
with your essay. That document can be found here:
[3]https://archive.budget.gov.au/2013-14/my.... The
2013-14 MYEFO provides information on the Commonwealth’s financial and
economic position, and contains information explaining the movement of the
estimated underlying cash balance (UCB) for 2016-17 from surplus to
deficit, including how the new Government planned to resolve legacy issues
from the former Government. The following pages may be of particular
relevance:

o Pages 2 -3 (pages 12 – 13 of 286) provide a high-level overview of the
deterioration in the UCB.
o Pages 19 – 23 (pages 29 – 33 of 286) contain more information on the
deterioration.
o Pages 29 – 39 (page 39 – 49 of 286) provide details on each aspect of
the deterioration.

If this information satisfies your queries, would you please withdraw your
FOI request by return email to enable us to close our file?

If you are minded to continue with your FOI request, we seek your
agreement to a 19-day extension of time to process your FOI request. Under
section 15AA of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) you can agree to
extensions of up to 30 days.

The current statutory timeframe is 31 July 2022. The extension of time
would extend this deadline to Friday 19 August 2022.

The additional time will be used to undertake further searches to
determine whether there may be other documents relevant to your request.

We would be grateful if you would agree to this 19-day extension of time
by COB Monday 25 July 2022.

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information Officer
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600

Phone: +61 2 6263 2800

Email: [4][Treasury request email]

[5]www.treasury.gov.au

OFFICIAL

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