Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the matter of public importance put forward by Senator Bushby. I presume it is just another little furphy that those on the other side have put up so that they can all keep going on and on and on about the carbon tax, about the clean energy bills. I have news for them: the vote happened, you lost—deal with it. Move on. What I do want to talk about are some of the things we have done with regard to acting in the national interest. Of course, those on that side may be a bit surprised because they are in denial about anything we do that is positive. They just do not acknowledge it. We have increased the age pension, and that is obviously of significant importance to a number of people, and we are looking at ways of improving aged care so that older Australians can have more choice and more control about their future. We have introduced paid parental leave—I will not go into all the issues in detail, because I would be here all day and I have limited time—and, once again, those on the other side did not want to support that.

We have also laid the foundations for the nation's first National Disability Insurance Scheme. I would declare that that is also in the national interest. We have put many, many dollars into health. We put money into more hospital beds, more doctors and more nurses. We put $2.2 billion into achieving mental health services, which is, once again, of national interest and national importance.

That is unlike those opposite. Mr Abbott, as health minister, took $1 billion out of the health portfolio. I do not know that doing that was necessarily working in the national interest. It is all about a contest. It is a contest between being stuck in the past under the coalition, listening to their stunts and letting them run their negative scare campaigns all the time or advancing Australia under a Labor government. I know which side of the fence I would rather be on.

There are a couple of other things we have done. As a senator from Tasmania—and Senator Carol Brown is here and I know that she will agree with this; unfortunately, I do not think Senator Bushby, who is also from Tasmania, will—there was the rollout of the NBN in Tasmania. Eventually it will be rolled out across the rest of Australia, which will improve access for all Australians and will move Australia forward.

Senator Bushby interjecting—

Senator Bushby, we know that it has been said that your side will roll back the NBN. I am just waiting for you to come out with a policy on that before the next federal election. As you know, that was one of the downfalls of the Liberal Party in Tasmania in the last federal election. The NBN is really important, not just for entertainment, which is what those on the other side often purport; it has very practical uses and benefits for the whole nation. One of the areas I am particularly interested in is e-learning, or remote learning. To rural and remote students that is of great significance. Students in the city will benefit from the rollout of the NBN as well. Another area where the NBN will be of benefit is with regard to smart homes. Then we have the tele-health area, or e-health, which will obviously be of enormous benefit to everybody, especially for consumers who are aged or housebound and also for the medical profession when they want to talk to each other or videoconference to consult about patient care. And there will be increased benefits with regard to e-commerce, which will allow Australian businesses to participate in the global market in real time. With even those few things, I suggest that we are certainly working in the national interest, which is contrary to what I believe those on the other side are doing. Their rank hypocrisy is amazing; it disgusts me a lot of the time. They are fairly disingenuous because they have a policy-free zone.

Senator Brandis interjecting—

Senator Brandis always has to interject when he knows I might be making a point.