Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Nurses work incredibly hard in very difficult environments. It is a great saying that the most sacred thing a human being can give, after their love, is their labour. It is the case that nurses give both on so many occasions in their tending to the sick and dealing with the ill.

From our perspective, a nurse is often a mother or a father, as well. As a parent they do not want to bequeath to their children a lesser quality of life than that which they have had. That is why we are setting about fixing the budget. We will not leave the next generation of Australians with a bigger debt and higher taxes and a lesser quality of life than that which we have.

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