Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I stand to support the views of the government and, indeed, Minister Ian Campbell on this. The key principle is this: you want to support the system that supports you. You want to acknowledge the fact that the abuse of the system means that that are other more deserving recipients who will miss out. This is a point that the Labor Party seems to neglect: it is the people across the country in families, and the old and young alike, who will miss out. They will miss out on the appropriate level of support that they deserve. That is a key principle.

This is a government for all Australians and we want to support the system that supports everybody. Minister Campbell, I must say, should be congratulated for taking up the views—he has consulted widely, particularly in recent times—of not only members of the backbench but the AMA, people in the health industry sector and the like. I want to go back a step and acknowledge the work of the former Minister for Human Services, Joe Hockey, who spent a lot of time and effort—