Bill Shorten Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
3:15 pm
Madam Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
Yes.
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
During question time the Prime Minister claimed I was responsible for a cut to the budget at CSIRO equal to the Prime Minister's recent cuts. This claim is wrong. The facts are that over the course of the last Labor administration the budget increased from $675 million to $757 million, a 12 per cent increase. In addition, overall science and innovation spending over the course of the Labor government increased by 30 per cent. Lastly, the CSIRO is funded through the industry portfolio, not the education portfolio, which I held.