Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

The AMA is one of the most powerful unions in the country and it will continue to advocate in relation to its particular area of interest. That is understandable and I think everyone in this place accepts that. But this government is faced with ensuring that we have a secure and responsible budgetary future. What the Australian Labor Party did in their last year or two of government was simply promise the world without any funding base, without any basis for making those promises. And then when we pointed out the fact that there was no funding base, that this was funny money, that there was simply no basis to make those promises—and therefore that some of those Labor promises need to be looked at in that context—all of a sudden it was alleged that we had somehow broken promises by being responsible and honest to the Australian people. (Time expired)