My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Gallagher. When we came to government, there was almost a trillion dollars of debt left by the coalition. Since coming to government, the Albanese Labor government has been repairing the budget, including finding $178 billion in savings and reprioritisations—

Senator Whiteaker, please resume your seat. Would you put your question again, and let's restart the clock.

It seems that those opposite don't like it when we talk about their record. My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Gallagher.

Senator Whiteaker, resume your seat.

Senators, I thought that, perhaps, if I stopped saying 'order' over and over again and just sat here silently you might get the message—but, even then, you didn't. This is opposition time that is being wasted because you are being disorderly. On my right, they're also being disorderly. Senator Whiteaker, start your question again, and I will restart the clock.

My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Gallagher. When we came to government, there was almost a trillion dollars of debt left by the coalition. Since coming to government, the Albanese Labor government has been repairing the budget, including finding $178 billion in savings and reprioritisations while still investing in the essential services Australians rely on, like Medicare, aged care and the NDIS. Why is responsible budget management important, and how is the Albanese Labor government delivering the services Australians deserve while repairing the budget?

I thank Senator Whiteaker for waking the chamber up and for that question. I appreciate it being on our approach to managing the budget responsibly, to paying down debt, to lowering the interest payments on that debt, to making sure that we're delivering services that the Australian community need and expect, and to finding savings at the same time. I must say that those opposite don't like it when they have to engage with the facts.

I can hear Senator Hume. We are not going to take lectures from the coalition on fiscal management. We're not going to do that when, just a day after they discharged and therefore opposed the private health insurance save, they have an additional $3 billion that they will need to find in addition to all of the other commitments they have already made in the last 12 months that they will have to fund and that they will have to find. We know they went to the last election promising bigger deficits, higher taxes and more debt. We know that that was the signature move of Mr Taylor and Senator Hume—bigger deficits, higher debt and increased taxes. It was an unusual policy for a Liberal Party to take to an election, but that's what they did. And that's where they're heading this time, because that's what they did yesterday when they discharged the private health insurance bill, which was proposing a sensible save for a reinvestment in aged care that is needed as well.

We will continue to take the responsible approach, finding those savings those opposite were never able to do, delivering those improved budget bottom lines that, again, those opposite were never able to do and ensuring that the services that Australians need are delivered. (Time expired)

Senator Whiteaker, first supplementary?

In the budget, the Albanese Labor government proposed a reinvestment that would provide $3 billion into aged care to meet the growing needs of our ageing population. Can the minister advise why this measure is important and what impact efforts to block it would have on Australians?

I thank Senator Whiteaker for that supplementary. Yesterday we saw that resurrection of the 'no-alition', the grouping of parties—the Greens and the coalition—working together, as they did previously when they blocked housing from progressing through this chamber, to continue to oppose sensible savings. We hear the calls from those opposite about finding savings. But, when we do find them, they say no. They discharge the legislation and they attach it to their costings—

in addition to all of the other spending that they have committed in the last 12 months.

Senators Wong and Hume, come to order!

I'm not sure those opposite understand what is going on here. But when you look at the commitments that those over there are making—reversing our tax changes, abolishing the save that we have on PHI—the invoice that they are going to have to manage when they go to the next election is extremely substantial.

Senator Whiteaker, second supplementary?

Minister, why is it important that sensible savings measures are supported? Are there any risks to the Albanese Labor government's responsible management of the budget?

I thank Senator Whiteaker for that supplementary. By our calculations, the coalition has made nearly $580 billion worth of commitments since the election with absolutely no explanation of how they are going to pay for it. Their decision to delay the NDIS savings cost the budget hundreds of millions of dollars, just for those delays. They talk big on fiscal conservatism. But when it comes to actually voting, they take a completely different approach and vote with the Greens. They've got the same fiscal policy as the Greens, which is to spend more and worry about how you pay for it later. That is the approach of the conservatives. We will continue to bring sensible savings to this chamber, we will continue to find savings in the budget, and we will continue to manage the budget responsibly.