Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Moreton for his question and I certainly appreciate his concerns about the dental clinic at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in his electorate. That dental clinic was all but shut when the Leader of the Opposition was the Director-General of the Cabinet Office in Queensland. I am confident that the member for Moreton’s concerns are not shared by the Labor candidate in Moreton, a former union official who is almost certain to be, as the Leader of the Opposition is, a patsy for the ACTU and a patsy for the state Premier.

Let me inform the House, for those members who are not aware of it, that legislation is currently going through this parliament to give people with serious dental problems up to $4,250 worth of Medicare funded dental treatment, in a $385 million dental plan that will cover some 450 specific dental items. This is the best news that people with dental problems have had in many a long year, yet I regret to say that the member for Gellibrand got up in this House last night and said that Labor would oppose it. This is a $385 million plan which will start in just a few weeks and Labor want to stop it. Labor want to stop $385 million of dental treatment starting almost immediately.

See this speech in context