FAMILY First national director and NSW Legislative Council candidate, Lyle Shelton, has expressed alarm at revelations from former Treasurer Peter Costello that Australia now carries almost $20,000 in net debt for every man, woman, child and baby.

Mr Costello told the Aspire conference in Sydney on Tuesday, that 20 years ago Australia had no net debt.

Today, every Australian is effectively born owing $20,000, he told the conference.

“Mr Costello’s warning is not just about numbers on Treasury spreadsheet,” Mr Shelton said.

“It is about the moral failure of leadership. Politicians have placed an unfair burden on the backs of our children and grandchildren.”

Former Treasurer Peter Costello was a key speaker at the Aspire conference in Sydney on Tuesday.

Mr Costello warned that government spending per person has grown twice as fast as tax per person since 2007, with spending now at historic highs as a percentage of GDP outside the COVID pandemic.

Mr Shelton said Australians should be under no illusion about how the nation reached the point where Commonwealth debt is about to hit $1 trillion.

“Both Liberal and Labor governments have presided over this 20-year economic slide. Both sides of politics have expanded government, fuelled dependency and racked up debt,” he said.

“Labor may be spending with abandon today, but the Coalition must also accept responsibility for abandoning the discipline while in power for nine years that once delivered zero net debt.”

Mr Shelton said politicians must now level with the Australian people.

“The days of endless government handouts cannot continue. The nation simply cannot afford them,” he said.

“Leadership means telling the truth. It means explaining that difficult decisions will need to be made to restore the nation’s finances, rebuild productivity and ensure the economy once again provides rising living standards.”