Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I most certainly will. What we also hear from Labor is the illusion of the concern that the government might be abandoning quality education. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We heard Senator Dastyari a moment ago accuse the government of running scared, but in fact the opposition in this country are being blatantly irresponsible. There is one immediate task confronting us all, and that is to repair the budget mess that was left by the former Labor government. It is interesting how little they talk about the budget emergency. It is interesting how little they talk about the urgent task that is required to fix the budget arrangements in our country. So do not listen to Labor. Do not look to Labor. Look in our national papers to find out what people are saying. Warwick McKibbin in The Australian Financial Review, just recently, talked about the very real international risks that put our country at risk if we do not repair the budget. The head of the Department of the Treasury had this to say about the opposition and what it had been doing in our national parliament.