Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

And so, Speaker, I would simply say this: under the Leader of the Opposition, when he was minister for health, the relative real contribution by the Commonwealth to the public hospital system of Australia went down and down and down. That is a statistical fact which once again, if the Leader of the Opposition is happy to do so, I would be happy to debate with him one day at the National Press Club. That is: what are the relative funding and contributions by us as opposed to them for the public health of the Commonwealth? I would welcome a debate on public policy, welcome a debate on the future of the health system, welcome a debate on the future of the education system, welcome a debate on the future of the economy and on broadband. I would welcome a debate on national security, but all we get here is politics, politics, politics—the old politics of simply negative interjections and invective as opposed to building a constructive argument for one vision for Australia's future versus anything else he may choose to offer. We are on the side of a positive plan for Australia's future. I wish he would join the bus.

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