Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I am aware of the Sydney university research. I am also very well aware that the previous Labor government left us a budget mess, which we are addressing. There have been a range of views expressed relating to the budget since that time. But what is very important for the Senate to note is the very fact that we are having to take tough decisions is because of the previous government's economic mismanagement and the budget mess that they left us. We had an MBS 10 years ago that was costing this nation $8 billion. It is now costing around $19 billion and is projected to cost around $34 billion over the next decade. This government has had to make some tough decisions. There has been a range of commentary about that.