Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Smith for her question. Yes, I can update the chamber on the work we are doing to clean up the mess left behind by the Liberals and Nationals when in government.

We all knew that the former coalition government was addicted to spending taxpayers' money like it was Liberal Party money. We heard Senator Rennick outline that in one of his contributions last week. The October budget also uncovered, if people remember, $4.1 billion of holes we had to address in terminating measures, in funding cliffs and in zombie measures, some of which had sat before the parliament since 2016, propping up the budget with a decision taken in 2016 and never moved upon. We've had more time to go through the books.

The May budget will deal with more of the spending traps that the coalition deliberately baked into their bottom line, leaving the budget billions of dollars worse off. There are more funding cliffs for government programs: no ongoing funding for My Health Record, no ongoing funding for adult dental health, chronic underinvestment in the key cultural institutions that Australians treasure and are crumbling around us—literally crumbling around us—and no funding for key commitments made by the former government. Remember, the Brisbane Olympics were fifty-fifty, but no provision was made. No provision was made for the Murray Darling Basin Plan. There's underfunding and erosion of capability in key Public Service agencies like the department of agriculture, meaning government can't deliver services. There are drop-offs in funding for the Australian Radioactive Waste Agency. Do you reckon we might need that after December? What about the National Emergency Management Agency? What about the eSafety Commissioner? Do you reckon they might need ongoing funding to keep their programs going? (Time expired)