Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

No-one likes to see anyone worse off; no-one does. No-one likes to see anyone worse off, but it is very important that we prioritise our spending to try to get people into work, and that is exactly what the government have done. Let me be absolutely crystal clear. When the member for Jagajaga was the Minister for Family and Community Services she realised that, sometimes, she had to make savings in the area of family tax benefits. She realised that. When she was the minister Labor cut $15 billion from family tax benefits. I have to say that on the vast majority of occasions we supported it, reluctantly, because no-one wants to see anything cut. Sometimes it is necessary for the long-term best interests of our country to reprioritise spending.

In 2013 when the member for Jagajaga was the minister she forced 84,000 single mums onto Newstart as part of a budget cut to save $738 million over four years. These were savings that Labor made in government that were largely supported by us in opposition because this coalition in opposition believed that when the government was doing the right and responsible thing—it did not often happen when members opposite were in government—oppositions should support it.

I understand that members opposite do not like the changes that we have made. Well, tell us what changes you would make. Tell us how you would fund the $58.6 billion budget black hole. Tell us exactly how you would fund the $58.6 billion worth of unfunded commitments that you have made. This is exactly what members opposite have to do. If they do not like what we are doing, tell us what they would do. It is just not good enough to support every spend, to oppose every save, to call for more spending up hill and down dale—$58.6 billion of extra spending—without telling us how it is funded.

We want to encourage people to move from welfare to work, because that is the best form of welfare. Smart Labor people realise that and so do we.

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