Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

(—) (): Yes, I can. Those opposite do have an alternative plan, which is more of the same. Mr Shorten was in an aged-care facility today where he said, 'Look at the ALP website; look at our petition.' He did not say, 'Look, we realise we fundamentally made a hash of the design of the scheme.' He did not say that. He did not say, 'Our design resulted in a fundamental budget blow-out.' What he said was, 'We're going to reinstate it.' So it is incumbent upon the Australian Labor Party to indicate where they are going to find $780 million over the forward estimates—money that is beyond the $52 million that was budgeted for. Where are they going to find, over 10 years, $1.5 billion? You would think that they would at least have the good grace to say, 'Look, we're looking at an alternative proposal.' No, they are not. What they are proposing is more of the same. I feel for Mr Bowen and I feel for his counterpart, the shadow minister for finance. They would have slapped their heads, thinking, 'What has Bill Shorten put us into here?' (Time expired)