Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was just waiting to check whether the member for Dickson is okay with me returning to the debate because he seems a bit of a precious petal tonight.

One of the things I do understand is that, yes, perceptions about public policy are as important as the detail about public policy and, yes, at the moment that is something that this government has got to work on. But this government has got nothing to be ashamed of. This government is in fact a very good government. In its policy delivery—

Mr Dutton interjecting—

The big man scoffs. The one that loves parliament so much that he would deny himself the ability to stay in the parliament, but goes on the 24/7 talk shows on TV—hear the member for Dickson, the great saviour of the Liberal Party, sorry the LNP, whatever that is—and can only sit there scoffing. He will come up with a policy; we will hear it some day. He will think of something, mealy-mouthed. Have a look at the way in which we address dental policy in a concrete way that will probably be more sustainable than was the case with both the previous governments, of both political persuasions—sometimes we all have to admit that perhaps we got it wrong. But I know there was a fair degree of effort put in place when, during the Hawke-Keating years, a public dental scheme was put in place. One of the things that it requires, and we acknowledge it in the provision of a number of health services, is cooperation between public health and private health. But the member for Dickson was of the ilk that decides that he will put words in our mouths that were anti-private provision.

The Labor Party has moved on. The Labor Party knows that it has to move on with the norms of the society, within the time frames. That does not mean that we move away from traditional Labor values. It just means that we have to adapt to different types of delivery systems. So in this budget, at a time when the economic ministers have decided that they will put in place a budget that conforms to the political aspiration we put to the people about the budget going into surplus, we still were able to do something very concrete with regard to dental health policy.

Another thing that I am not ashamed to comment on is the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I know that this is again something that the member for Dickson says, in a mealy-mouthed way, is not enough. Well, we can all say that.

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