Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

to index family tax benefit by CPI, then it is right and proper to index other social services by CPI. If it is moral to do this in one respect, it is moral to do it in other respects, too. We absolutely stand by all of the proposals in the budget, but we absolutely accept and understand that in the end this government must get parliamentary support for certain budget measures. That is why we will talk to the opposition and to the crossbench and, indeed, to anyone who has the long-term national interests of our country at heart, because surely even members of the opposition must now accept that the debt and deficit legacy that this government inherited is simply unsustainable. I deeply regret the fact that there are $5 billion worth of savings which the former government announced prior to the election and which the opposition is currently is opposing, even though it supported it before the election. I do not think it is too late for members opposite to have an attack of common sense and a vision of the long-term national interest. That is why this government is prepared to talk even to the Labor Party if it is necessary in order to do the right thing by the people of this country.

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