Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

So while you sit there, babble on and carry on in your own little world, let us look at what we did. We also spent $4.95 billion on health, and health is a very important thing. In fact, it was so important that the Liberal Party arranged for their own branch members to come and cut the ribbon and do the opening! Those opposite voted against the rural and regional national health and hospital fund. Every rural and regional member in this House that sits on that side should hang their head in shame, because they did not support better outcomes in rural and regional health. We spent $4.95 billion and the only thing that the minister would turn up for was to cut the ribbon. Those opposite would not support it. They would not go there and say, 'We don't think you deserve this,' but that is exactly what their actions did. Their actions said very clearly that rural and regional people do not matter. Those opposite did not want to support the building of these facilities; they did not want to support rural and regional people.

We had the member for Bowman talking about the old dental scheme that was in place. That was the scheme that the so-called economic geniuses of the Liberal Party—

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