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

Well, Mr President, there you have it. There we have it yet again—the Labor Party, again, never letting facts get in the way of what they think is a good story, because their entire premise of the MPI is incorrect. If those in the Labor Party were opposite, they would be truthful with the Australian people. What they are referring to is something contained in a media report, which is pretty much where they take most of their information. If they were being honest with the Australian people, they would be saying the facts, that this is a draft green paper. It is an options paper only. It is a discussion paper. It is not government policy. So if the opposition were going to be honest with the Australian people, that is exactly what they would be saying today.

We are a democracy. What we do in this nation is we discuss issues. We raise ideas. On this side of the chamber, this government, the Liberal and the National parties, actually encourage discussion. We actually want debate. We actually want people to put ideas forward and have a national conversation about that. Not from the other side. Indeed from the other side, apparently, according to Senator Doug Cameron, we see zombies. On that side of the chamber, they are not allowed to have an individual thought. On this we encourage debate and discussion. On the other side, they shut it down. Indeed, Senator Cameron said: 'We don't want zombie politicians.' Indeed, in 2010, he described serving in the Labor government as: 'A bit like having a political lobotomy. You can't speak your mind. You can't think about some issue because they are all off the agenda.' I can tell you, Mr Acting Deputy President Bernardi, on this side, in this government, we encourage debate and discussion. If those opposite were being honest with the Australian people, they would have said exactly what they were referring to and use some facts.

Interestingly, we have even seen the South Australian Labor Premier, Jay Weatherill, referring to this particular issue saying, 'It's only a discussion paper. We've been asking them'—that is, the government—'to canvass the broader range of options. There is a broad debate going on about Commonwealth state relations, which is a good thing.' Perhaps those on the other side should spend a little bit more time listening to some of their Labor Party colleagues in other states.

The scaremongering from the Labor Party knows no bounds. When we look at the facts—and again I come back to the facts—hospital funding is increasing. It is increasing by 25 per cent over the next four years. It is increasing by $3.8 billion. We might need to say it a few more times for others around the chamber who maybe were not listening today to the excellent responses from Senator Brandis: health funding for hospitals is increasing. That is a fact. I know the Labor Party does not like dealing in fact, but it is a fact.

The former Labor government claimed that they would increase hospital funding by over 10 per cent a year—when they were in government, that was their promise. That was going to take the costing from $15 billion to $40 billion within a decade. And where was it going to come from? This is magic money—money that was off in the never-never; money that Labor now talks about this coalition government cutting. It was never there; it was magic pudding money. It was Labor hocus-pocus of promised money that they knew they were never going to have to deliver. Magic money is a standard Labor tactic. They were going to pretend they would fund health and education by billions and billions of dollars of fake magic money, and then scream when the government is said to be cutting their fake, unfunded promises. It is about time the Labor Party started to be truthful with the Australian people.

I feel a bit sorry—or very sorry, actually—for the hard-working people in the health sector who are out there saving people's lives and working hard. I have to pay tribute to all our front line health workers across the country. They do a fantastic job. And they believed the cruel Labor hoax that there was some magic pot of money coming their way down the track. Of course, it was never there, because Labor have absolute form on this. The irony of Labor talking about future funding! They could not manage the economy when they were in government, let alone manage delivery of any future funding. They have absolutely no idea how to manage the economy. On this side, this coalition government realises we have to be economically responsible managers. We have to make sure that, going forward, this country is secure and the economy is strong and robust. But on the other side they have no idea. What did they leave us? A trajectory to debt of $667 billion. For them to come in here and talk about future funding without any reference to the facts of the case is absolutely gobsmacking. I will note that you are nodding in agreeance, Acting Deputy President Bernardi. Thank you. We were left $123 billion worth of deficits by the previous Labor government. What a mess this coalition government has had to fix up! We are going to do that because we realise that the future of the nation is at stake.

Because of the previous Labor government we are paying $1 billion a month in interest. We are paying this because of the failed economic management of the previous Labor government. That is a billion dollars a month that we cannot spend on all those things that people out in our electorates, out in our states, right across the country, are asking us to do. It is because of the mess Labor left us. I know those opposite do not like us referring to that, but it is a fact. Facts are something those on the other side refuse to believe.

When we look at the economic mess we need to look no further than to the failed former finance minister, Senator Penny Wong. As finance minister all she delivered was debt and deficit, with no effective plan to bring the nation's finances under control. This was under Labor, under Senator Wong as finance minister at the time. Senator Wong said in her first speech as finance minister, in 2010, that a return to surplus in 2012-13 was not negotiable, yet her promised surplus never turned up. It never turned up because she failed to rein in the spending, and she presided over the most rapid escalation of debt in Australian history.

For those on the other side to come in here today and talk about future funding—and indeed, as I said at the outset, the MPI is based on a false premise—is absolutely gobsmacking. It is about time that those opposite in the Labor Party started to talk facts to the Australian people; that they started to be truthful with the Australian people when it comes to issues that affect them so enormously. We only have to look at some of the decisions that were taken under the previous Labor government to realise why this government is the economically responsible manager of the nation's finances. We look at things like the pink batts program, where $2 billion was mismanaged. We had FuelWatch and Grocery Watch—nearly $30 million was spent setting them up.