Oi Turnbull! Please explain that debt and deficit again

Everytime I turn on the teev or radio I hear Truffles Turnbull banging on about debt and deficit.
He expresses horror at a national budget deficit predicted to run at around 4.9% of Gross Domestic Product this financial year and net debt reaching 13.8% by 2014.
He talks about the Rudd Government leaving a huge debt that generations to come will be paying back.
Truffles pulls a solemn face, puts his hand over his heart and promises the Coalition will do better if elected in 2010.
It really browns me off that he obviously thinks that nobody will be bothered to take a squiz at past government debt.
A history of public debt in Australia gives a more balanced view of Australia's debt record than Truffles.
It clearly shows that Australia carried considerable public debt right through the colonial era and went into Federation in a year which saw gross national debt reach 100% of GDP.
It also shows Australia managed to pay back huge World War One, Great Depression and World War Two debts (in relation to GDP) across the same two generations.
And our ability to recover is fairly consistent if you look at all the figures.