Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Exactly one year ago today at a press conference in Hobart the Prime Minister said, 'We can fund the major initiatives that we have announced so far in this campaign without cutting health, without cutting education, without touching pensions.' Why is the Prime Minister breaking his promise by cutting $80 billion from schools and hospitals, and slashing $23 billion from the age pension over the next decade?

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

Yet again senior members of the opposition are simply wrong. They are simply, simply wrong. Pensions go up every six months every year. They go up this year, they go up next year, they go up the year after that, they go up the year after that—they always go up and they always will go up every six months under this government.

The opposition have, day in and day out, made claims about public hospital funding and school education funding that are simply, simply wrong. For the benefit of members opposite let me repeat: this year public hospital spending goes up nine per cent—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Sydney will put the prop down!

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

next year it goes up nine per cent, the year after that it goes up nine per cent and in the final year it goes up six per cent.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The member for McMahon on a point of order?

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister is being mean and tricky. He is misleading the House.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for McMahon knows perfectly well that is an abuse of the standing orders and will leave the chamber under 94(a). The Prime Minister has the call.

The member for McMahon then left the chamber.

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

For the benefit of members opposite, public hospital funding goes up nine per cent this year, nine per cent next year, nine per cent the year after that and six per cent in the final year. School funding goes up eight per cent this year, eight per cent next year, eight per cent the year after that and six per cent in the final year. So every single year school funding goes up, public hospital funding goes up. The Leader of the Opposition likes to wave around our budget documents. I am pleased that he likes to wave around our budget documents, because that is the closest he will ever get to fiscal responsibility—waving around our budget documents! Because, I tell you what: you will never, ever get fiscal responsibility from members opposite. Remember in 2012 when the absent member for Lilley stood up in this parliament and said, 'The four years of surpluses I announce tonight …' Let me repeat that. In the 2012 budget he said, 'The four years of surpluses I announce tonight …' The Leader of the Opposition even claimed it had already happened.

The budget that the Leader of the Opposition waves around is this government's document to address the mess that members opposite created. We have told the Australian people how we will address Labor's budget mess. Now we need to know what Labor will do to address its budget mess.