John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Treasury! You listen to Treasury, Senator McLucas, when you wish to, but at other times you will not. We could take you down the carbon tax road—but we will not go there. This removal of the incentive is simply another tax by this big-spending government. It is in a different way, but it is more money into the Treasury coffers as Treasurer Swan tries to get the budget into the black after making a colossal mess of our finances. You couldn't believe it! We have a Future Fund of $73 billion that the coalition put aside when it was in government, thank goodness, and it is lucky that has not been raided, but we have now gone to a gross debt of $232 billion, and the interest bill alone on that is going to be huge. So here is an attempt by the government to help get their budget figures back in the black that is going to cause enormous damage to our health system. It is as simple as that. Already in the country areas we have nurses who are overworked, working double shifts, and I can take you to the country hospitals and introduce you to the nurses. We have doctors working hard—