For someone who could be about to lose his job, Joe Hockey has had one of his best weeks in parliament as treasurer.
It was business as usual right up until the last day of the sitting fortnight, with Mr Hockey gleefully reporting in question time that his first budget finished in better shape than forecast just a few months ago.
The final budget outcome for 2014/15 was $38 billion compared with $41.1 billion predicted in May.
"Labor left a deficit of $49.5 billion - we're doing better, we're creating more jobs, we're opening up more opportunities and we're building greater prosperity," Mr Hockey said to cheers of support from government MPs.
Government spending is also $2.9 billion less than forecast and net government debt is $11.5 billion smaller.
The final report will be released on Monday, although by whom is still not clear.
However, Mr Hockey later told AAP the results showed the government's fiscal position was heading in the right direction.
"The budget I delivered in May will see the deficit reduced further, each and every year," he said.
But shadow finance spokesman Tony Burke said the results still represented a $26 billion blow out in the deficit from when Labor left office and $26 billion more debt.
"Why does the government not acknowledge that from budget to budget they have doubled the deficit and net debt has continued to rise?" Mr Burke asked Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in question time.
Mr Turnbull dismissed the assertion as an "extraordinary exercise in economic denialism".
"The Labor Party panicked and spent and spent and built up, as we predicted, a towering mountain of debt and structural deficit," he said.
"It will take us years to undo but undo it we will."
Mr Hockey has forecast a budget surplus in 2019/2020.
