Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wright for his interest in matters pertaining to immigration and border protection and his interest in all matters pertaining to good government, which is what we getting on with the job of doing. Labor's failed border protection policies resulted in more than 55,000 unauthorised boat arrivals in more than 800 boats, causing a blow-out of over $11 billion. Tragically and sadly, they resulted also in the deaths of 1,100 people, who drowned at sea. We have not had a boat arrive for nearly six months now and we have not had a drowning at sea. Each person who came under Labor's watch cost $170,000 to process. That is a huge cost when you are trying to develop infrastructure in, for argument's sake, the electorate of Bendigo, in the electorate of the shadow minister who is at the table, or in regional Queensland.

The shadow minister asked me earlier about health costs. Under the coalition, hospital funding for the ACT will increase from $266 million in 2014-15 to $311 million in 2017-18. That is under the coalition government. In 2015-16 funding to the states for hospital services will increase by nine per cent, or $1.4 billion more a year. It will go up by nine per cent the following year and the following financial year. It is a similar story with education. The amount of funding will go up and up.

He talked about Finance ASLs. It is all due to the machinery of government and the deregulation to PM&C. He talked earlier about the AEC. I am going back on some of the things he raised. I can cover in my letter to him the things I am unable to answer—and I will certainly get back to him. The change to the ASL was all due to the election. I am not aware—and this is in response to his previous question—of any plans to do a spill and fill, but difficult times do call for hard decisions. Difficult times call for difficult measures. As I said before and as the member for Wright indicated, we all have to contribute our share to building a better Australia. We all have to contribute our share to help restore confidence in government. We are doing that. We would like to think that Labor will get on board as well.

Investments in the Medical Research Future Fund, which the member for Fraser raised, will be managed by the Future Fund Board of Guardians, in accordance with an investment mandate to be issued by the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance, Senator Mathias Cormann. The Medical Research Future Fund, which will build up to a $20 billion pot, will go to, hopefully, finding some answers to some of the questions that have thus far eluded medical researchers. It will provide valuable research and development in finding hopeful cures for many of the illnesses which plague and beset our nation. It will provide valuable medical research into cancer, into dementia and into all sorts of dreadful ailments which affect each and every family.

The establishment of the Medical Research Future Fund will be subject to the passage of health savings legislation, and we do hope that Labor gets on board because they have been so obstructive in so many things. Even their own savings identified before the previous election have been blocked in the Senate by Labor for whatever reason. Five billion dollars worth of their own savings have been blocked by an obstructionist Labor in the Senate. It beggars belief. The HHF—the Health and Hospitals Fund—will cease operation on 31 December 2014. Committed funds from that pool at 31 December this year will be transferred to consolidated revenue, from which the remaining commitments of the Health and Hospitals Fund will be met. I have to say that that Health and Hospitals Fund did provide funding for some valuable projects in the Riverina, and I was certainly appreciative at the time. Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, a new hospital at Griffith and the multipurpose development at Hillston in the west of my electorate certainly benefited from that HHF.

The Medical Research Future Fund is the biggest international future fund of its type, and I know that this needs bipartisan support because Labor members know of the benefit of valuable medical research. I know the health minister and certainly the Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Fiona Nash, are behind this project because it will provide valuable research into many illnesses. (Time expired)

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