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

I do not accept the premise of the question. If you want to ensure that we continue to have the revenues to be able to pay pensions, Medicare, PBS and so on, we need to lift workforce participation. We need to lift the productivity of the Australian economy. And the Paid Parental Leave scheme does exactly that. It helps to lift workforce participation and it helps to lift productivity.

I know this is very difficult for the Labor Party to understand, because once upon a time they, too, believed in improving productivity. Once upon a time there was a Labor Party that believed in economic reform. And only through reform can we earn economic growth. And only through economic growth can we get the revenue to help to pay for sustainable pension systems, for sustainable Medicare systems, for sustainable pharmaceutical systems, for the sustainable defence of our nation, for the sustainability of our scientific research and for the sustainability of our education. Where is this magic pudding that the Labor Party believes in? Where is it? Where is that golden goose that lays all the eggs? I do not know—

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