Mr McCORMACK (Riverina—Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) (15:51): The member for McMahon wrote a letter today. The member for McMahon wrote me a letter about paid parental leave. He did not write me a letter back when I wrote to him about GrainCorp last year. In fact, he just left it on the table. Mr Bowen interjecting— Mr McCORMACK: I was what? I was wrong? I do not think I was wrong. I wrote you a letter asking for your response and you never bothered to reply. But that is not uncommon in Labor, because they did not often reply to a lot of things. They did not often reply when people wanted them to rein in expenses, to rein in the debt and the huge deficit that our country was being left with. Dr Leigh: Tell us about the letter. Mr McCORMACK: Well, he wrote me a letter about paid parental leave. Dr Leigh: What did he say you should do? Mr McCORMACK: Yes, I received a letter about paid parental leave today. I hear the shadow minister. If he will just be quiet, I will tell him about the letter. The letter was talking about paid parental leave and asking for me to have a meeting with him. I will have a meeting with you, member for McMahon. I will happily have a meeting with you. The paid parental leave is going to be a productivity measure. He talked about the fact that there would be more people gaining a benefit in the Prime Minister's electorate than there would be—now he leaves the chamber. You should stay and listen because then you can avoid having a meeting with me! You should stay and listen. You might actually learn something. No, that is typical—he walks away. He talked about the fact that there would be more than 400 Riverina families who would benefit from the paid parental leave. Therefore, what is so wrong with people getting a benefit? I have to say: Labor continually talk about the pension being stripped away. Well, I would ask the member for McMahon to ask the pensioners in his electorate if any of them are receiving a pension cut. In fact, the pension will continue to increase. We heard the Prime Minister say it again and again in question time today, but obviously the member for McMahon was not listening. The pension will continue to increase twice each year to keep up with the cost of living. In March this year the pension rate increased by a maximum of $15.70 a fortnight for single pensioners and $11.90 a fortnight for each member of a couple. The amount of the pension will increase again in September. We heard the Prime Minister say it will increase again twice next year, twice the year after. The trouble with Labor is they are not listening. They did not listen in six years when they were on the Treasury benches and they fail to listen now. They do not have a plan for the future; they have a plan for the past, though. That plan is to eradicate 7 September from last year's calendar. They have a plan to say that 7 September, election day last year, did not occur. They have a plan to say, 'No, no, no—we're still in power, we're still running the show. Let's keep this age of entitlement going. Let's keep the welfare going up and up and up. Let's keep regional Australia where they belong—absolutely feeling like second-class citizens.' We are getting on with the job of building the roads of the 21st century. We have got on with the job—and we are doing it again and again—of stopping the boats. We are getting on with the job of paying down Labor's debt, which, if left unchecked, would be $667 billion. There is $1 billion a month in interest payments that would build, as the Treasurer said today, teaching hospitals. We would have fantastic teaching hospitals if that money were spent where it ought to be spent. So many schools could be built on just the $1 billion a month we are spending in interest alone. We cannot keep maxing out the credit card. The member for McMahon in his matter of public importance lead speech said we have talked a lot about surveys. He quoted a lot of surveys. Here is one for him: of the 17 top-surveyed International Monetary Fund countries, Labor left Australia with the fastest growth in spending of anyone in the world and the third highest growth in debt of any country in the top 17. There is a survey he can wrap his ears around. He talks about the adverse impact of the budget on the Australian economy and on confidence. Well, let me tell you: if there is any sap of the Australian confidence it is with the carbon tax. The carbon tax is costing each and every family $550 per year extra every time they turn on the power, every time they go to the supermarket, every time they drive their car. It is costing them $550 extra a year. We heard in question time today about state parliaments. Today a good friend of mine, the Hon. Andrew Constance, the member for Bega—I know him well; we have been mates for a long time—showed what can happen when governments are not afraid to make tough decisions early. Andrew Constance is the new Treasurer of New South Wales in the Baird-Stoner government. Just as an aside, the carbon tax is costing the state of New South Wales, that fine state, $237 million a year, which should be being spent on schools, because at the end of the day states are responsible for schools. Newsflash, Labor: states are responsible for educating our kids. That is why they call them state schools. But they are also responsible for health. That $237 million would be far better spent on schools and on health. When the New South Wales Nationals-Liberal government came into power they too inherited a mess. It was back in 2011. They had a debt which was out of control. Why would it have been out of control? Can anybody tell me why it might have been out of control? Mr Nikolic: Too much spending, too much debt. Mr McCORMACK: Too much spending, too much debt, I hear the member for Bass say—as well as 16 years of Labor governments. The Nationals-Liberal government under Barry O'Farrell and Andrew Stoner inherited a mess. They followed a government which had lost control, but they did take some tough decisions early. They had to. While I must admit the debt and deficit problem our state colleagues inherited was nowhere near the projections of $667 billion that we have been saddled with—it is not just we; it is the taxpayers of Australia—no-one can argue that they did not get on with the job and make the tough decisions. Our state colleagues, with a strong Nationals team behind them, know how to grow an economy. They know how to grow an economy and they are doing it now in collaboration with the Abbott-Truss government. It is in the DNA of Labor governments, whether here in Canberra or in Sydney, to borrow and spend beyond their means. Get these stupid campaigns on the back of beer coasters like NBN and pink batts and school halls that were overpriced beyond their means, and then expect future generations to pay for them. Inside Labor is a conviction to promise policies it knows it will never have to deliver, like it did with Gonski. Years five and six—that is where the big money was. But, under us, under the coalition, there is actually more money in the four years of the forward estimates. Like the budget of our colleagues in New South Wales, our federal budget sets us on the course to get the debt under control. It sets the course to ensure the government can actually afford to build the infrastructure and services which underpin economic growth. It sets us on the course to ensure, just as the member for Bega in New South Wales aptly put it in parliament today, that the government is in control of its budget, and not the other way around. Just like our colleagues in Macquarie Street, we are going to get on with the job of making the tough decisions. We know that those opposite, particularly the member for Maribyrnong, were plagued by the New South Wales disease in government—never quite sure who to pick as leader and more interested in the follies of factional fighting. They were navel gazing; they were inward looking. That is typical Labor: more worried about who is going to lead them and which faction is fighting which than about getting on with the job of governing—whether it is New South Wales and governing the state or whether it is federal and governing the nation. What the New South Wales budget today also highlights is an understanding—an understanding etched into the minds of coalition members of parliament, particularly the Nationals—that strong regions make for a strong economy. When I say 'the Nationals', I should also include the rural Liberals. We have some good rural Liberals. I can see the member for Barker, the member for Durack over there, and the member for Paterson here at the table. They are good rural Liberals—getting on with the job of building the infrastructure that we need. We know that the regions produce the food, the fibre and the mining wealth that make this country great. That food, fibre and mining wealth were badly impacted by Labor's policies. Whether it was the Murray-Darling Basin fiasco or the minerals resource rent tax tax—no matter what it was, Labor stood in the way of us getting on with the job of generating growth, creating jobs for people and getting people, as this budget has done, to either earn or learn. We on this side understand that investing in good country roads not only improves the safety and security of country commuters but assists in getting product to market. It is not only about helping commuters; it is about getting commerce happening. That is something Labor never understood in government and could not care less about in opposition. This budget certainly delivers for country roads. Country roads are at the forefront of the $50 billion in infrastructure spending. I would argue that is as it should be. We are building, maintaining and improving our critical roads—the infrastructure arteries which keep our economy, our nation, moving. Whether it is the Bruce Highway, the Pacific Highway or the Warrego Highway, this government knows how crucial these roads are and will invest in making them better. But it does not stop there. Our National Stronger Regions Fund, which will begin on 1 July 2015, is part of the strategy—our strategy—to make sure the regions are at the forefront of getting the nation's finances back in order and investing in growth for the future. Country people get that. Country people understand that you cannot spend beyond your means, country people understand that you cannot spend more than what you earn and country people, like coalition MPs, understand that we have to pay back Labor's debt so that we do not saddle future generations with far greater debt and deficits than they can manage. (Time expired)