Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Evans, the Minister representing the Prime Minister, and the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations. Can the minister outline to the Senate the government's investment in education and health, and the benefits that are flowing to Australians as a result?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his question. Over the last four years, the Gillard Labor government have made massive additional investments in Australia's education and health systems.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What about Australian truckies?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In education, we have almost doubled our investment in schools, we have built or upgraded facilities across every single—

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What are you doing for Australian truckies?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australian truckies, Senator Cormann, have kids, and they appreciate that we invest in their schools, that we do not seek to destroy their educational opportunities. Why don't you be quiet for a minute and listen so you might learn something about that investment, because this government supports investing in schools, in VET and in universities—in opportunities for our kids. We want our people to be able to get high-skilled, high-paid jobs. That is why this government is investing heavily in improving the educa­tional opportunities available for young Australians, including a record investment in schools, a record investment in vocational education and training, a record investment in universities—all of those things that allow Australians to take advantage of the oppor­tunities of the growing economy and those high-skilled, high-paid jobs that are available.

This government has also made a record investment in health reforms. Not only are we rolling out extra hospital beds and services but also, under the new COAG agreement, an additional $19.8 billion will be invested in public hospitals as extra funding for emergency departments and for procedures that would otherwise not be funded. So this government makes record investments. This government makes a priority of the education and health of Australians. We continue to drive increased investment because we believe the best investment we can make is in education and health, to support our economy, upskill our people and make sure our people are healthy. (Time expired)

Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister outline to the Senate the biggest risk to the government's investment in education and health?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think the biggest risk is the oppo­sition. We saw, by their performance when I was speaking earlier, that they have no interest in education, they have no interest in health. They only have interest in negative political point-scoring. They only have interest in opposing. What we do know is that they have plans to slash the investment we are making in schools and in education more broadly and in health. We know they went to the last election promising to cut hundreds of millions of dollars out of funding that would have supported low-income students going to university. They targeted those people's opportunities. We now know that they want to cut $70 billion—$70 billion—from our budget. That would mean, for instance, stopping paying pensioners for two years. That is the size of the cut they are going to impose on Australians. We believe in investing in Australia's future, not slashing opportunities. (Time expired)

Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Is the minister aware of the comments of the opposition leader at the AMA conference yesterday, and what are the implications for the government's investment in our education and health services?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Which comments?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a very good speech.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was not the one at the butcher's shop; apparently that one got cancelled. If you take the opposition leader at his word, what he said at the AMA dinner was that you can judge him by his actions, by his record as health minister. 'That's what I would be like as Prime Minister,' he said. Remember what his record was as minister for health? He cut $1 billion out of funding for public hospitals. He cut $1 billion. So he reinforces the message: you can expect the same sort of negative, budget-slashing approach that he had as health minister. In response to a question back in 2006 about queues for surgery, he said:

Cost and queues is what ensures that services aren't overused …

He supports the idea of people having to wait for essential operations. That is because he sees it as a useful economic tool. Mr Abbott would continue his policy of slashing access to health services— (Time expired)