George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Carr, with all due respect, it is a bit rich being lectured by you on this when the Labor government, of which you were a member and in an area for which you had portfolio responsibility, announced cuts of $6.6 billion from higher education and research between 2011 and 2013. So don't come into this chamber and lecture us about cuts to the innovation budget when this is a government that has invested $9.7 billion this year in innovation, science and research and, just as importantly, has put innovation front and centre of the economic transformation of the country. I think the Australian people will understand that that transformation can be driven by Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison but it would never be driven by Bill Shorten or you. (Time expired)