Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I refer to my previous question to the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister’s rejection of the premise of that question, which was that he had axed the Commonwealth Dental Health Program in 1996, which has resulted in 650,000 Australians now waiting for public dental care. I refer to the government’s budget speech of 1996-97, which states:

As waiting times for public dental health services have now been reduced, funding for the Commonwealth Dental program will cease from 1 January 1997, saving $399 million over 4 years.

Prime Minister, on what basis do you contend that the government did not abolish the Commonwealth dental program?

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