Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I understood, very well, what you were asking. I was making the point that there are many areas of investment, particularly after 10 long years of those opposite investing in so many of the wrong things and so few of the right things. The process of considering not just this area but the many areas that demand funding, as well as the structural deficit that the finance minister has spoken about, obviously will be something the government will consider in the course of the budget.

You would well understand—I appreciate that as an independent senator your job is to represent your constituents, and I'm sure that includes pushing the government to do more. But what I would say to you is we recognise this is a very important area; we are committed to getting this into a much better shape than it was, and Ms Plibersek has done an extraordinary job in the last months to do so, but there is much— (Time expired)