Laura Smyth (La Trobe, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We faced a GP and nurses shortage and Australians know that we have responded by investing heavily in things like hospitals, GP superclinics and regional cancer centres. We have invested in the training of GPs, we have invested in the training of nurses and we have done so because we came to office at a time when all of these things had been undermined or left wanting by the Howard government and, in many instances, by the same people who are sitting on opposition benches today.

We inherited a housing and homelessness crisis when we came to office. We responded swiftly. We responded in one way with the National Rental Affordability Scheme, which is intended to increase the supply of affordable rental housing by 50,000 dwellings across the country by June 2014. That is us taking the lead, to give people affordable housing, making sure they do not have to worry about that, making sure that they can carry on productive lives, making sure that they are supported and their families are supported. Those are the kinds of financial priorities that we have and have had since coming to office. Those opposite may like to note that we have made a continued commitment. We have made a commitment of $3.6 billion in the 2013 budget alone, delivering record investments in affordable housing and in investments to address homelessness.

Once again, we carry on our commitment in managing the budget and managing the economy for ordinary Australians who have the kinds of needs in education, health and housing that Labor people know need to be responded to. It is the reason we have put together a budget against the backdrop of very difficult financial circumstances. They are circumstances where we have faced continuing global financial instability, which the opposition continues to wipe out of its memory, and where we have faced natural disasters around the country, which the opposition continues to wipe out of its memory. We have managed to maintain these objectives and make financial commitments that make a difference to the lives of ordinary Australians for whom we are managing the budget. I hope to see exactly for whom the opposition is managing the budget tomorrow night.

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