QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator WONG (South Australia—Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (15:12): I'll take the comment at the beginning of the question, because Senator Ruston is now trying to run a political line. What she has to explain to her colleagues is where she is going to find the $3 billion that she is saying should not be invested in aged care.

What is she going to do in the shadow ERC when she comes forward and says, 'We need more funding for aged care, but we didn't want that savings because we had to line up with Senator Allman-Payne from the Greens'? For the life of me, I do not understand where the fiscal conservatives are on the other side. I do not understand why the drys over there are allowing the moderates to completely eviscerate your economic and fiscal credentials.

Where do you think this ends? This ends with Senator Hume at the last election: higher taxes, higher deficits. (Time expired)