Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, it is at this point that I would like you to list all of the measures that were identified in the 2014-15 budget. My recollection is that in the 2015-16 budget nothing was identified—but please correct me if I am wrong. At this point—and it is a question that I have asked at estimates so I am sure you have that at hand—in order to assist Senator Lambie and also for the chamber, I am seeking to understand the extent of the programs that are being mopped up, for want of another word, to put into this fund and who it will affect so that people are very clear that this fund is being established—as much as we agree with its intent—and that the people who are paying for this fund are people who are sick today, people who need to go to the hospital today, people who need their teeth dealt with today and people who are mentally ill today. These are funds that were previously allocated to programs to support people who are sick today and that will now go into the fund to provide medical research. We just need to be very clear about what we are doing.