On message
'The core of this budget is about building a bigger and better trained workforce ... the centre piece of this budget is jobs, jobs, jobs" - Treasurer Wayne Swan when delivering the budget.
'This is about getting our budget back in to black, back into surplus...
'We look forward to creating half a million more and getting back into work Australians who are at real risks of being left behind' - Prime Minister Julia Gillard on the ABC.
The opposition opposes
'All this budget delivers is more deficit, more debt and more spin' - Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey.
'It was a dud. I don't think it was worth a mark out of 10...It was probably the flattest, most funereal budget this parliament has seen in many a long year'- Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on the Nine Network.
Hitting higher earners
'This is a tough budget - we said it would be...it's required the making of tough choices, we've made cuts in order to get into surplus'- Prime Minister Julia Gillard told the ABC
'There's $22b of savings in this budget - more than $5b more of savings than there are of spending initiatives...I'm investing in infrastructure because we don't want a lack of infrastructure to be a constraint'- Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
'There are quite a few goodies in there for low-income households' but 'one could argue that it would have been better to avoid those goodies and try to get spending levels down even greater in order to avoid upwards pressure on interest rates' - AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver.
The Unions
'Australian unions tonight welcome many of the initiatives in this budget,' Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) president Ged Kearney.
'The budget today contains very little good news for the essential services Australians rely on' - CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood.
Hell bent on a surplus?
Independent MP Tony Windsor said Wayne Swan was 'hell bent' on getting into surplus - and he didn't understand why.
Too punitive
Greens Leader Bob Brown said he felt measures attempting to get young parents and the disabled in to work were 'too punitive.'
'We will not block supply but we will seek to responsibly improve the budget via the parliament. That is our job'- Greens Leader Bob Brown.
Mental health
'(It's) the largest commonwealth commitment to mental health services in Australia's history' Health Minister Nicola Roxon on the commitment to mental health funding.
'Gillard has delivered on her promise to make mental health a priority in her second term' and it's 'fantastic' to see bi-partisan support for mental health - Former Australian of the year and mental health expert Patrick McGorry.
It's vital that state governments step up to the plate and match the federal government's commitment' - Patrick McGorry.
'The road to lasting reform will take many years, but the initiatives announced tonight create an unstoppable momentum for change.' Frank Quinlan, chief executive of Mental Health Council of Australia.
'It is the regions finding their voice and finding their place', making sure Canberra is working 'for all Australians'- Independent MP Rob Oakeshott.
Migration
Chris Richardson of Access Economics says that where the government gets top marks is that it's 'upped migration - the increase is 'the best single thing.'
Foreign Aid
'This is a good news story' - Oxfam Australia executive director Andrew Hewett applauding the increase in foreign aid.
Business-like
'This is a strong budget to support a stronger future. What is needed from here, however, are further bold reform measures including wide-ranging tax reform' - Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott.
Made in China
'The difference in the spending will disappoint the reserve bank... you get a net that's not to enthuse (the bank). Furthermore, the final number of the budget surplus in 2012/13 is 'made in China.'
'You don't need much to go wrong' for the figure to falter - Chris Richardson of Access Economics.
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