Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have to follow a new low, but I will ask the Prime Minister the following question: can the Prime Minister confirm revelations in today’s Australian Financial Review that this year’s Budget Paper No. 1 was printed and pulped just days before the budget, reportedly due to errors stemming from late decisions by the government and ‘disagreement in the bureaucracy over figures’? Can the Prime Minister please inform the House what last-minute changes prompted the government to order the pulping of Budget Paper No. 1 and what figures in the amended version should also be written off as pulp fiction?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. In terms of the printing processes for the budget, I am completely unaware as to how that was handled and I would imagine that if you had asked that question of Mr Howard he would have been unaware of the printing processes associated with the budget as well. It is a complex physical process; it takes time and I am sure there are corrections made on the way through, as there were in the past.

Sharryn Jackson (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Will the minister advise the House on important health initiatives and reforms included in the budget?

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

I thank the member for Hasluck for her question. I know that, along with many members in this House, she is particularly pleased about the investments that were made in health in the budget. The Midland community in her electorate will benefit from a $180 million new hospital, which is being funded by the Commonwealth, and I am sure that she, along with others who have received funding in 32 different communities from the Health and Hospitals Fund, will welcome the investments that we are making. This week’s budget continues to deliver on our commitments to reform and improve the health system across the country. We are investing in the whole health system across the whole country to deliver better health outcomes for Australians.

Tuesday’s nation-building recovery budget continues a journey in health that we began last year. Despite the major challenges to the budget caused by the global recession we have continued to drive major improvements in hospitals, health infrastructure, our health workforce, maternity services and services in rural and regional communities. It might be of interest to the House to know that this budget delivers a landmark $64 billion into our healthcare agreement. That is a 50 per cent increase on the investments made by the previous government, with 35 per cent more GP training places than we had under the previous government, a 45 per cent increase in rural health funding and a 57 per cent in Indigenous health funding. Nurses and midwives are also big winners from the budget. For the first time highly skilled nurse practitioners and midwives will be able to access the MBS and the PBS. In fact, the Australian College of Nurse Practitioners described this initiative as a ‘visionary decision’, while the Australian Nursing Federation said:

Australians will be healthier and have greater access to equitable, quality health care because of changes announced in the Federal Budget …

The rural package means that nearly 2½ thousand more doctors and 500 more communities are newly eligible for funding and 40 new projects to better support rural health services have been approved. Once again the government is taking action to make up for 11 years of neglect by the previous government. As I have already mentioned in answer to the member for Hasluck’s question, this budget itemised the first down payments from the Health and Hospitals Fund, set up by this government to make long-term investments in our nation’s health infrastructure. The fund is now in business and $3.2 billion worth of projects—with 32 projects across the country—have been given the green light.

I do wonder whether the member for Herbert, who does not appear to be in the House today, supports the $250 million to expand the Townsville hospital or whether he thinks, as it appears some of the leadership does, that these sorts of investments are irresponsible. Likewise I would be interested to hear whether the member for Tangney and other members from Western Australia support the replacement of the Perth rehabilitation unit at the new Fiona Stanley Hospital. This project has now been made a reality, thanks to a $255 million contribution from the Commonwealth.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was from the previous government. We gave the money in our government and you’re just re-announcing it.

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

But we have heard nothing to indicate whether those opposite are going to support this project. That was an interesting interjection from the member at the front, who always manages to get things just a little wrong. He thinks this was an announcement already made by the previous government. I hate to break it to him: there was no health and hospitals fund from the previous government. There was no funding for hospital infrastructure by the previous government.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was announced before you ever became the government, and you know that.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Canning.

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

There was no money announced ever by the previous government for these projects. It has been welcomed already by the Liberals in Western Australia. But, no, those opposite are never prepared to acknowledge when these projects are being funded by us. They have a question to ask the Leader of the Opposition: are they going to stand up and support these initiatives in communities that need them or are they just going to be opportunistic and oppose anything that our government does, no matter how many communities will benefit? Most of these 32 projects are shovel ready, so in addition to the obvious healthcare benefits, they will support jobs today and provide the infrastructure that Australia needs in its health system for tomorrow. As you know, Treasury modelling shows that up to 210,000 Australians would be out of work if it were not for our stimulus and our budget.

I would like to read some comments that Mr John Kirwan, the Chief Executive Officer of the Launceston General Hospital, made about the investment of $40 million to upgrade his hospital. I know the member for Bass will be interested in this. I do want to quote, Mr Speaker, but I am not entirely sure all of the language is completely parliamentary. Mr Kirwan said:

It’s absolutely, bloody fantastic. There won’t be many unemployed tradesmen around for the next few years.

This is a fair budget. It is investing in health infrastructure across the country. Communities will benefit, and those opposite will have to decide whether they want to stand with their communities or stand with their leader.

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

My question is to the Treasurer. I refer to what has been described as the Treasurer’s ‘spend and pretend’ budget. Does the Treasurer expect Australians to believe his budget predictions that the Rudd government will go from being the biggest spending government today since World War II to being the meanest government in 20 years after the next election? Treasurer, when will the debt binge end?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government has outlined its fiscal strategy for the four years ahead. We have clearly outlined our program of economic stimulus, in particular our nation-building projects for recovery. We did that for one reason and one reason only: we are in the middle of a global recession that is threatening the employment of tens of thousands of Australians, threatening the viability of communities and threatening the jobs of very many people. We have moved entirely for the right reasons: to stimulate our economy and to protect our people from a vicious global recession. We have done that entirely appropriately and in a responsible way.

Our fiscal stimulus has been assessed by the OECD as being one of the best in the OECD and one of the most responsible in the OECD. But this budget is not just about the here and now. This budget is about the future. It is a budget about building the wealth creation potential of the Australian economy through investing in infrastructure, skills, higher education and our people. It is a budget that is about preparing this country for a time when global growth returns. It is a budget which is about maximising the opportunities for this country when global growth returns, and to do that we do have to borrow on a temporary basis.

It is also the responsible course of action for us to put in place a path back to surplus. What should never be forgotten is that there is more room to move in this country than in many other developed countries. Using the strength of our balance sheet to protect our people is entirely the responsible thing to do in these very difficult circumstances. As global growth does return, we will pay down debt, move the budget back to surplus and bring into play our medium-term fiscal rules—and they are tough. A two per cent cap on spending once growth comes back to trend is a very important fiscal discipline put in place by me and the Minister for Finance and Deregulation back in February and implemented in detail in this budget. You can see the stimulus wind down in the forward estimates. In the final year of the forward estimates there is no new net spend because what we have done, principally, is to borrow to make up for the $210 billion which has been lost to this country because of the global recession.

That is the responsible thing to do. But, of course, those opposite have simply become totally irresponsible and totally out of touch. They are just so remote and removed from the problems in the Australian economy, if you judge them by what they have had to say in this House about the nature of the challenge that we face in this country. There is no understanding of it whatsoever in their public statements.

I have always had a degree of respect for the Leader of the Opposition. I have always thought he was a reasonably bright bloke. And I always thought that he had some contacts with the business community that might help him get in touch with what was going on in the economy. But he is so out of touch that he does not understand the most basic fact of business life: if business is going to be successful and if business is going to be profitable it needs demand. When you have a global recession and when you have the withdrawal of private capital, that gap can only be met up by a government borrowing responsibly. That is what we have been doing, and in so doing we have had the support of the business community.

We have had the support of the business community because we have acted responsibly. Part of acting responsibly is bringing the budget back to surplus when global growth returns and paying down debt, thereby ensuring that we have protected our community at this time of global threat. But those opposite have no notion of that at all. They have become so opportunistic—they have become so rank in their approach to politics—that they have come in here today and played the race card as well. It is unbelievable! Their behaviour in the House this week means that they are absolutely and completely unfit for government.