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

My department did indeed circulate a draft green paper, a draft discussion paper, to officials in the premiers departments of the various states. As members on both sides of this House would know, the government, when in opposition, promised a white paper on reform of the Federation. We said that it was very important that we try to ensure that our Commonwealth is operating as efficiently and as effectively as possible. In particular, we thought it was very important that we try to ensure that our schools and our hospitals are delivering the best possible services. So what we are doing is entirely honouring the pre-election commitment that we made. There have been many months of discussions already between officials in my department and in other Commonwealth departments and officials of the premiers departments of the several states. This is officials talking to officials about what they think are interesting ideas for the future of our Commonwealth.

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