Kym Richardson (Kingston, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister confirm that federal health spending is at record levels as a result of the budget? Would the minister also confirm new initiatives to combat chronic disease? Are there any alternative policies, and what is the government’s response?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for his question. I can confirm that this government does not just talk about Medicare; we invest the money needed to make a good system even better. As the Treasurer announced on budget night, in the coming year the Howard government will spend $51.8 billion on health and ageing. That is 22 per cent of the federal budget. It is a record and it is up from about 15 per cent back in 1995.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What are you counting?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What am I counting? I am counting Health and Ageing portfolio spending. I am counting DVA spending on health and ageing.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Roxon interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister has the call. The member for Gellibrand will not interject.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am counting Medicare Australia spending on health and ageing. I am counting the money that this government is legitimately investing in health. We are investing this money in health because we care about people’s health, we care about Medicare and we have some policies, unlike the person who is busily interjecting away on the other side of this parliament.

Some of the budget highlights include $291 million to give people with a chronic disease access to longer consultations with specialist physicians. Another highlight is $378 million to give people with a chronic disease and poor oral health access to up to $2,000 worth of Medicare funded dental treatment on referral from their GP. I want to make it very clear that this government can only afford to spend this kind of money, the extra $4.6 billion that we have invested in health and ageing in this budget, because of a strong economy. If you wreck the economy, you wreck health spending too. The Leader of the Opposition knows that he is going to have to cut health spending if he ever becomes the Prime Minister of this country. He knows that. He admitted as much in his notorious Jon Faine interview last month when he said:

Well, when you look at the amount of money which is wasted in duplication overlap in the health and hospital system ... I believe there is great scope to extract significant savings.

This is not just some obscure backbencher. This is not some professor at a university. This is the alternative Prime Minister of this country. This is the person who is arrogant enough to think that he is going to be Prime Minister by Christmas—and he says that there is great scope to extract significant savings.

Health is very important to the people of this country and the Leader of the Opposition needs to explain himself. In fact, I think he should have a press conference. I think a press conference today would be an excellent idea. Questions on health might not be the first questions he is asked, but they certainly should be some of the questions he is asked. He cannot make these kinds of statements without explaining exactly how much he thinks is going to be saved and exactly where he thinks these savings might be made. If, as I suspect, he just got it completely wrong on John Faine—he was completely flustered—he should have the guts to say that he got it wrong. When the member for Barton got it wrong in the Sunday Age, he had the decency and the honesty to say—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hear some hyenas in the House.

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Crean interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Hotham has already been warned.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This Leader of the Opposition needs to explain himself. He cannot make those sorts of statements about something as important as health and think that he can get away with not explaining them. As I said, a good place to start would be a press conference this very afternoon.