Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister—

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Randall interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Canning should be very careful about making reflections that are not so sotto voce that they cannot be heard by the chair—reflections which a chair, from time to time, could take as reflections upon the chair. I just give him that gentle reminder.

Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister inform the House of any plans the government has to make amends for the damage done by the ripping out of a billion dollars from the nation’s health system?

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

I thank the member for Banks for his question.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order: you give a lot of latitude to questions on both sides of the House, but I think that one is going so far outside the bounds—and the member for Banks knows it, too—that you really should rule it out of order as containing entirely irrelevant matter, hypotheticals, the casting of aspersions and so forth. It is full of lies and all of it should be withdrawn.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Dutton interjecting

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Julie Bishop interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Dickson and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition are warned. The member for Sturt will withdraw the remark contained in his point of order.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I withdraw the word ‘lies’ and I replace it with ‘arguments, inferences, imputations, insults and other expressions and hypothetical matter’—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you. The member will resume his seat. As an experienced member of the House, the member for Banks might have chosen his words a bit more precisely. But, on the point that is central to what the member for Sturt has put before me, I refer to my ruling earlier in the week on argumentative content of questions that has been allowed in the past.

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

I think the conclusion which people in this House are rapidly drawing is that, when it comes to health and hospitals, those opposite are very sensitive—indeed, exceptionally sensitive—because they are led by a leader who spent four to five years as the Minister for Health and Ageing, right up until the last election, and who has everything to be concerned about when it comes to his record, a record on health and hospitals which includes a billion dollars ripped out of the public hospital system. He says—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Prime Minister be no longer heard.

Question put.

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

I think what everyone watching this will conclude is as follows: that the Liberal-National parties are so sensitive about ripping $1 billion out of the public hospital system that they closed the parliament down.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order under standing order 89. I find these words offensive. The Prime Minister is misleading the parliament.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, I think, would understand that it is a real stretch to apply unparliamentary language to the contribution so far. The Prime Minister has the call.

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

You know that when the member for Curtin takes control of the tactics things are going real bad.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The House will come to order.

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

I say one more time: the Liberal and National parties are so sensitive about ripping a billion dollars out of Australia’s public hospital system that they chose to try and close down the Australian parliament.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Julie Bishop interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition has been warned already.

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

On the question of the $1 billion gouge out of the public hospital system, the Leader of the Opposition is obviously saying that the budget papers of the Howard government lie. I would not suggest that the Leader of the Opposition would make that accusation directly against his mentor, the former Prime Minister, Mr Howard, but if you go to the budget papers of 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 and what was going to happen in the subsequent forward estimates for the following year, 2007-08, you do not just have a billion dollars ripped out; you have more than that. What does that equal? It equals refusing the system 1,025 hospital beds. Tony, how could you deny funding for 1,025 hospital beds? Or, if you were translating it into—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I ask you to ask the Prime Minister to sit down under the standing order on irrelevance and tedious repetition.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Hockey interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! You are all comedians, but I do not know whether the public out there really think it is all that funny. Yet again, the member for Sturt thinks he can speak whenever he likes. He should really look at the standing orders, which say that members cannot interrupt. I was about to be very charitable to him, because I could consider that this was simply a point of order that was designed to interrupt, given that previously in this parliament—as best I can do in monosyllables, which may be difficult—I explained to him that that standing order does not apply to question time. The Prime Minister is responding to the question.

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

The equivalent of this billion-dollar gouge out of the public hospital system is either 1,025 beds or 760 GP training places. This is not your average drive-by gouge—this was a megagouge. This took a lot of money out of the system. This does not just go to the Leader of the Opposition’s record as health minister on allocations to the hospitals; it goes to how he describes his record.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Under standing order 89, I find these lies misleading and offensive, and I ask you to ask the Prime Minister to withdraw them.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order and the member for Dickson will withdraw.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

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

As I said, it is not just the act of pulling a billion dollars out of the system; it is then how you seek to cover it up.

Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Haase interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Kalgoorlie will leave the chamber for one hour under standing order 94A.

The member for Kalgoorlie then left the chamber.

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

What we had from the Leader of the Opposition just recently in a radio interview was his statement that:

I did not rip a billion dollars out of health … What happened was that in 1996, long before I was health minister, the forward estimates were reduced by $1 billion.

This actually goes to the truthfulness of the Leader of the Opposition and his attempt to defend his action in taking that money out of the system, because if you go to—

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Under standing order 90, the Prime Minister is imputing an improper motive against the Leader of the Opposition, and I ask that he be sat down, because we are sick of hearing these untruths.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will resume her seat.

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

As the Leader of the Opposition knows full well, what was untrue was what he said on the Alan Jones program about when this change occurred. In the 1996-97 budget papers there was not a billion-dollar removal from the health program. There was a removal of about $300 million—that is true. What he was seeking to do on that occasion was simply to cover up what he had done and was responsible for, and he was subsequently found out for it.

It is not just that those opposite are so sensitive on health policy and so sensitive on the question of how you deal with a record which has a billion dollars being ripped out of the system; it goes to the credibility of those opposite on the question of policy in general. What we have seen so far from those opposite is every degree of sensitivity about any policy concerning health. We have seen where that went in recent days on paid parental leave—that great policy announcement which emerged from nowhere about a week or so ago. It rose as this great, bright shining beacon of new policy from those opposite and then it disappeared without a trace.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Seniors) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order, I refer you to the Practice, particularly page 554. In relation to the length of answers, you have the discretion to sit the member down when the answer has gone inordinately long, which this answer clearly has done. I invite you to ask him to sit down.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Mackellar will resume her seat. The Prime Minister has the call.

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

It goes to one question, which is: does the Leader of the Opposition have any interest in policy at all? We know that he has a big interest in politics and we know that he has a big interest in one-liners, but on health policy there has not been a question all week. His great new policy innovation, which is paid parental leave, rose one day and then disappeared without trace. Beyond that, we have the third party endorsements of his policy which have been so richly delivered by none other than Peter Costello today. He said today:

For Liberals, that alarm should have sounded like an air-raid siren once Bob Brown and the Greens lauded the scheme …

Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Hawke interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Mitchell will resume his seat. The Prime Minister will relate his material to the question.

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

So, whether it is health policy, economic policy or tax policy, we have a Leader of the Opposition who is not interested in policy at all. On health and hospitals we have waited for a question on this all day from the Leader of the Opposition. You would think that, looking at the concern which the Australian people have about the future of their hospital beds, the future of doctors and the future of nurses, just one question would come forth from those opposite on health and hospitals, but there was not one. What has their response been? To try to shut the parliament down.

We understand why, however, on health and hospitals, because we have a Leader of the Opposition here who, when he was health minister, said, ‘There’s one thing for the Commonwealth to do and that’s to take the system over.’ He had five years to act on that and did not have the courage to act at all. Instead, when he was health minister, he ripped $1 billion out of the public hospital system and then put a cap on GP places. He was part of a government which abolished the Commonwealth dental scheme. And then what did he give? He gave that rock-solid, ironclad guarantee that nothing would ever happen with the Medicare safety net. But it all got summed up yesterday when, on the future of the health and hospital system he said, ‘We were gunna do it on the eve of the last election.’ Well, the Leader of the Opposition had better do a bit more ‘gunna-ing’ between now and the next election on health and hospitals, because his record is appalling and his plans are non-existent. I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.