Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

As the good senator would know, federal government funding for health, education and pensions continues to increase. The age pension is going up twice a year. Every six months the pension goes up. Do you know what else is happening? Every year, the Commonwealth government is putting more money into state hospitals and state schools. What this government will continue to do, as part of our focus on stronger growth, more jobs and giving everybody the best opportunity to get ahead, is ensure that our spending at a federal level is affordable and the economy is sustainable. We are not making any apology for making sure that the important expenditure on the social safety net and on health, education, national security, defence, border security and so on is affordable over the medium to long term. We know that the Labor Party keeps putting their head in the sand. You stay there—it's a good view, isn't it?