Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister outline to the House how the government's actions to build a stronger economy are delivering better education and health services for Australians without raising taxes?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Forde for his question. Under our government, Australia has a stronger economy. Under our government and the continuation of our government, the economy will continue to be stronger. Under the Labor Party's policies and their higher taxes, the Australian economy will be weaker; it won't be stronger. There's a very clear choice at the next election: a stronger economy with lower taxes under the Liberal and National parties or a weaker economy with higher taxes under the Labor Party—a very clear contrast that is on offer to the Australian people at the next election.

We are delivering a stronger economy, a stronger economy which means, in April of next year, our government will hand down the first surplus budget in more than a decade—a surplus budget which means, because of a stronger economy, that we can guarantee and deliver the essential services that Australians rely on. What are some of those services? Federal funding for public hospitals under our government has increased from $13.3 billion in 2012-13, and it will increase to $23.4 billion in 2020-21. That is a 76 per cent increase in funding for hospitals that is being delivered because of the strong economy that is being run and the strong budget management that is being run by our government. In the member for Forde's home state of Queensland, our hospital funding has increased by 98 per cent over the same period.

So the Labor Party will talk about what is happening with hospital funding—under our government, hospital funding has been increasing year on year and year on year, and in the member's electorate of Forde our government has delivered the Metro South Hospital and Health Service, a 65 per cent or $265 million funding boost. Since coming to government we've also listed over a thousand medicines—in fact, 1,900 medicines—worth close to $10 billion on the PBS, and in September we announced to more than 400,000 Australians that they will be able to access life-saving scans through a $175 million investment in 30 new Medicare eligible MRI licences.

Our government is running a strong economy. Our government is returning the budget to surplus, and in April of next year we will deliver the first surplus budget in more than a decade. When you run the economy well, when you run the budget well, you can invest in hospitals, you can invest in affordable medicines and you can invest in eligible MRI licences. You can deliver on the essential services Australians rely on. You can't do it without a stronger economy. Under the Liberal and National parties the economy will be stronger and taxes will be lower, and under the Labor Party the economy will be weaker, putting at threat essential services, and taxes will be higher. (Time expired)