Swan promises stronger fiscal position

Wayne Swan has promised to deliver a no-frills budget that will put Australia in a
stronger fiscal position.
The treasurer is spending the weekend putting the finishing touches on his third
budget while monitoring the continuing uncertainty on global financial markets over
the Greek sovereign debt crisis.
With the next election only months away, Mr Swan said the budget would be fiscally
responsible.
"Australians will see in the budget on Tuesday night the strict fiscal discipline
that the government said it would work within, and that will be (there) for all to
see on Tuesday night," he told reporters in Canberra.
"What you'll see on Tuesday night is a stronger fiscal outlook, and you'll also see
the application of our strict fiscal rules."
He said the budget would demonstrate how well placed Australia was to weather
international uncertainty because of the strength of the domestic economy.
Financial markets continued to tumble on Friday as the Greek sovereign debt issue
stirred concern among investors about the ability of other European Union nations to
meet their debt obligations.
In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average ended the week down 5.72 per cent, which
followed a brief plunge of nearly 1000 points during Thursday's trading, the biggest
one-day drop in the Dow's history.
Amid the crisis, EU leaders have sought to set up an emergency fund to bail out the
debt-laden Greek government.
Mr Swan remained confident Australia would withstand the turmoil, following
briefings with Treasury officials on Saturday morning.
"Australia is well placed to handle international uncertainty," he said.
"Our financial system is the most stable in the world.
"Our banking system is strong, and our public finances compared to other advance
economies are far, far superior to many other advanced economies."
Mr Swan said Tuesday's budget would not be a pre-election spendathon.
"It won't be a John Howard-type spendathon, election-year budget," he said.
"It will be a budget that consolidates the gains that we put in place during the
global recession."
Asked about national security measures - following reports in News Ltd that the
budget would include millions of dollars of spending to combat the spread of radical
Islam and for border security - Mr Swan declined to go into details.
"We are 100 per cent committed to the strongest national security measures," he said.
"As for some of the speculation in the press today, I don't intend to respond."
The federal government delivered a record $57.6 billion deficit in the last budget
as stimulus measures were put in place to combat the effects of the global financial
crisis.