Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister's department working up options to cut every single dollar of Australian government funding to public hospitals. Given the Prime Minister just described this as 'officials talking to officials', was there any consultation with the Prime Minister or his office on the content of the federation green paper?

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

Again, I say that the people of Australia would like to have a mature and sensible conversation about how our public hospitals and how our public schools might work better.

Our public hospital services could be better delivered. Our public education services could be better delivered and, of course, the conversations that officials have been having with officials at state and federal level over the last six months or so were very much prompted by the speech that I gave at Tenterfield late last year. That, in effect, kicked off the federation reform white paper process. The process has been going since then.

I have had very constructive discussions with the premiers and chief ministers at the last two COAGs on this subject. I would like to inform the member who asked the question, that Premier Weatherill said today:

… I think the Prime Minister is serious about reform. We had a meeting of state and territory leaders at the last COAG, and we had a I think a very good discussion about the need for each of us to step up and exercise the function of leadership.

This government is stepping up and exercising the function of leadership. The premiers and chief ministers are stepping up and exercising the function of leadership. The only people who do not want to engage in the function of leadership, it seems, are members opposite, who would obviously rather run a scare campaign than have a serious discussion about how we can deliver better public hospital services and how we can deliver better public education services.

Now, this document is so sinister—this document is so scary—that it will be published later on today for the benefit of all Australians, because it is important that as a nation we are capable of having a mature and sensible discussion about these things. In the course of that discussion a whole lot of issues will be raised and a whole lot of possibilities will be canvassed, but what matters is what ultimately comes out of it. That is what matters. Madam Speaker, I can assure you, I can assure all members of the House and I can assure the Australian public that this government will only propose things that are good for the public hospitals and the public schools of our country.