Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This has been a year of an unprecedented number of broken promises. It has been Tony Abbott's year of lies. Where do we begin? I may need to ask for an extension of time to be able to list the many, many, many broken promises and the many, many, many lies of this Prime Minister.

Let us start with agriculture. Before the election the government promised that they would invest $100 million in additional funding for rural and regional research and development. What have we seen from this Prime Minister and this government? Not only cuts to R&D and the CSIRO but sackings of scientists who would do this research work that the government promised they would invest in.

Let us go to health. This government said that there would be no cuts to health. On 30 August 2013, the Prime Minister sat with patients in the Bendigo Hospital and promised, 'No cuts to health.' But what do we see from this government? A $57 billion cut from hospitals and $30 million from the hospitals in my electorate alone.

Let us go to education. Education is another area where we have seen nothing but lies and broken promises. This government has cut funding to our universities and schools. This government is based on lies and broken promises. We don't just have a little book of lies of Tony Abbott; we are now developing an encyclopedia—an encyclopedia of broken promises from this government. (Time expired)