Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Patterson is right. Fixing petrol prices is an enormous problem. But Mr Rudd lulled Australians into believing that they would be better off on petrol prices and grocery prices under him than they would have been under a Liberal-National Party government. We wait to see the dividend of that. Australians, in particular, await the dividend of lower petrol prices and lower grocery prices. They await the substantial and sustained increase in the quantity of our investment in education that Mr Rudd promised. We will be looking for a substantial and sustained increase from this government in terms of education spending. That is what was promised. That is what we will expect to see. We await the elimination of duplication and overlap within the nation’s health system because, again, that is what was promised. That is what we expect to hold this government to account for. Of course, we look to see budget surpluses. If Mr Rudd and his team are so committed to budget surpluses and to fiscal restraint, not only do we await them delivering budget surpluses off the revenue that the Howard-Costello government left them but we particularly look forward to them seeing that their Labor colleagues in state and territory governments deliver some budget surpluses as well and bring their spiralling debt under control.

I look forward to seeing the end of blatant political advertising, wherever it occurs. I look forward to driving down the road in Adelaide and not hearing Premier Mike Rann on the radio in taxpayer funded commercials that he reads himself. I look forward to putting the television on and not seeing Premier Mike Rann appearing in taxpayer funded commercials. For all that you might have attacked government funded advertising in the past, I do not recall hearing John Howard on the radio or on television.