Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question's to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm that his government has made a secret deal with Senator Pauline Hanson's One Nation political party to ensure the passage of its big-business tax cuts?

Mr Pyne interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the House will cease interjecting.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. As the honourable member, the Leader of the Opposition, is well aware, owing to the antibusiness arrangements, the coalition, between Labor and the Greens; owing to their refusal to support measures that will encourage employment or, to quote the Leader of the Opposition, will encourage more investment, higher productivity, more jobs and better wages—that was then; that was a few years ago—and because of their concerted opposition to reducing business taxes in this and so many other measures, we have to seek the support of the crossbench. We do so with respect. We do so constructively. All of those negotiations are conducted, as indeed they are from time to time with the opposition, in confidence and with the respect that comes from that.

The honourable member would also know that the delivery of those tax cuts—the ones that were secured in the teeth of Labor opposition—is already delivering the jobs that are ensuring we have stronger revenues and lower expenses in our budget. That is enabling us to bring the budget back into balance a year early. That is enabling us to spend an additional $30 billion a year on public hospitals in the next hospital-funding agreement.

And I might say that I hope the honourable member, the Leader of the Opposition, is getting ready with a bit of paint to fix up an extraordinarily dishonest and lying billboard that the Labor Party has parading around the electorate of Longman, which claims we are cutting millions of dollars from a public hospital in Queensland. We're spending more money on Queensland every year, more money on public hospitals in Queensland every year, and the new public hospitals deal offers over $7½ billion over five years in additional funding, a 34 per cent increase in funding.

The Labor Party omits or forgets to remember that you don't make a lie true by repeating it again and again. Labor is lying about hospitals. It's lying about schools. It's lying about all the essential services that we are funding and guaranteeing and delivering because of the strong economy our policies have enabled and its policies threaten.