Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Grogan for the supplementary. Those opposite are very quick to use the figure of $315 billion in their media interviews, where they say it's excessive spending.

But they are less likely to give you a breakdown of what that spending is, because they would then have to say that they would cut the age pension and other income support payments, they would cut rent assistance and spending on housing, they would cut the money for women's safety, they would cut the energy bill relief, they would cut the pay of aged-care and early education workers and they would cut funding for medicines on the PBS and for our measures for cheaper child care. They wouldn't support expanding and paying superannuation on PPL, wouldn't support natural disaster recovery funding and relief and wouldn't support an increase in spending on veterans' compensation and rehabilitation claims.

I could go on. I'm not going to have enough time. But that is the secret behind the number that you use.