QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Women, Minister for Government Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (14:09): We'll continue the approach that we've taken in the previous budgets in MYEFO, where we will look to continue to find savings, and that work is underway now.

We recognise that getting the budget in better shape—and we have done so—is important if we are to meet the very significant funding pressures that are coming our way. Now, the pressures on the budget are not decreasing; they are increasing in almost every area. They are increasing in aged care, in health care, in defence, in national security—in all of those important areas that the government needs to fund.

In order to do that, we need to tighten our belt and find savings in other areas of government administration. That's what we've done to date, with $178 billion worth of savings and reprioritisations, and you'll see that approach continued in MYEFO.