Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Special Minister of State and Scrutiny of Government Waste) Share this | Hansard source

Absolutely. Again, I give my thanks to the member for Sturt, Christopher Pyne, and, while I am at it, to Senator Mason, Senator Nash and others who are here, who have fought very hard to get us into this position. But let us not delude ourselves about the outcome of what the government is doing. No, it is not the best option, and we do not pretend it is. We have an amendment in relation to inner-regional communities. But I say to the minister: when you have an understanding of the pressures facing country kids and their parents then let us have a talk about it, but do not have the gall to come in here and describe what we are doing as a pantomime. That is not a reflection on us; that is a reflection on the families in country Australia. They do not view this as a pantomime; they view this as nothing more and nothing less than the future of their kids. Their kids should have the opportunity to do what their metropolitan cousins are doing. That is what this debate is about. The government should hang its head in shame for putting us in this position. Have we fought for those country kids and their parents? Yes, we have. Is it an optimal outcome? No, it is not. We do not pretend that it is, but it is 1,000 per cent better than it was originally.