Senator PRATT (Western Australia) (16:18): Mr Deputy President, I can tell you where I think the profligacy in this chamber is coming from: it is coming from the coalition and from wordy and meaningless motions like this—motions that offer no substantive policy critique whatsoever but, rather, just throw words around. We also see it in question time here in this chamber day after day. Senator Boyce interjecting— Senator PRATT: There is nothing substantive in your arguments whatsoever. You want to talk about waste, mismanagement and profligacy? You need look no further than the coalition's policies, or their lack of policies and the lack of fiscal discipline. We know, for example, that Mr Tony Abbott has confirmed that the opposition will keep secret their planned $70 billion in cuts to services. They will keep their cuts secret until after the next election. In his 30-minute speech to the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Abbott— Senator Brandis: He never said that. That's not the truth, that's a lie! The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Brandis, you will have to withdraw that remark. Senator Brandis: Mr Deputy President, I heard Senator Pratt say that Mr Abbott had said that the coalition's economic plan would be kept secret until after the election. I called it a lie; I withdraw that. But it is not the truth. Senator PRATT: Mr Abbott, in his speech to the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry, offered no policies, no costings to fund his pledges and gave no explanation of how he would manage our nation's economy. All he offered Australians were an audit, more slogans and the same old negativity. On the one hand, shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey promised us two days ago that the opposition's $70 billion worth of cuts would be made public before the next election, whereas Mr Abbott told the Australian people just a few days ago that they will have to elect him into office first. Clearly, the coalition is in disarray on this question. We know that shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey has recently said that the opposition has in fact finalised its policies and costings, including its $70 billion planned cut in services, but refuses to tell Australians what and where they are. A journalist asked Mr Hockey: 'As recently as last Tuesday Tony Abbott said Australia needs an election and that he called on Julia Gillard to have one as soon as possible. Does that mean that your policies that you would take to this election that could be held in 33 days are done, costed and ready to roll out?' Mr Hockey said: Based on what we know now we are doing all the costings. All our policies are costed … The journalist asked, 'So you have found those savings you are looking for?' and Mr Hockey said: Yes, we have found the savings we were looking for. I say to you that if the opposition have truly finalised its costings then they need to come clean with the Australian people. They cannot just think they will coast into government on slogans and negativity: they need to come clean now. They need to reveal what they want to cut and how; how much their policies cost; and where they plan to get the money to fund their undeliverable promises. Mr Hockey has in fact contradicted his own shadow finance spokesperson, Andrew Robb, who said less than 10 days ago that the opposition had not finalised any of their major policies. So, if the opposition cannot even agree between their Treasury and finance spokespersons which of their policies are ready to go, how is it that they will be able to come clean with the Australian people? Tell me how it is that they will have a plan for our future. Does Mr Abbott truly think he can slide into government without telling people how he will manage our budget, where $70 billion will come from? From health? From education? From skills? Perhaps from the national disability support scheme? Where are his policies? Let's talk about hope, opportunity and reward, shall we? It is what the coalition has sought to put forward today. I can tell you there is a great deal of hope, opportunity and reward in the more than 700,000 jobs that Labor have created since we were first elected, in the fact that we have bulletproofed our Australian economy and kept it out of recession in the worst economic downturn in three-quarters of a century. Our economy's fundamentals have remained strong— Senator Brandis: What is the unemployment rate today, Louise? The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Ignore the interjection. Senator PRATT: I do not have to take your interjection. Our economy's fundamentals have remained strong, with outstanding employment growth, a record investment pipeline and a budget position the envy of our peers. Where is the hope and reward for Australian families? It is right here in Australia's first national paid parental leave scheme, with 18 weeks pay at the minimum wage. More than 130,000 working parents have already benefited, and I think that is fantastic. What I also think is fantastic—and there is a great deal of hope, reward and opportunity in this one—are the increased payments of up to $4,200 a year from 1 January this year to help with the costs of raising teenage children. I know, like everyone in this chamber would know, that raising teenagers costs a lot of money. Indeed, for too long we have punished families at the tail end of those child-rearing years just as children get more expensive. So there is a great deal of hope, opportunity and reward in that. And what about the future opportunity that will come with our National Broadband Network? It is affordable high-speed broadband to all Australians and Australian businesses no matter where they live. It will mean better education, better health care and better access for Australian businesses to the biggest marketplace in Australian human history. That is the kind of infrastructure opportunity and reward that our nation should be aspiring to. And what about hope? What about the hope that comes with getting the health care that you need? A healthcare agreement between the states and the Commonwealth delivers more doctors, more nurses and more beds with less waste and waiting time. What about the importance of the agreement on carbon price when it comes to hope for the future? There is a plan to cut pollution, cut taxes, increase the pension and create clean energy jobs. Most importantly from a hope point of view, I think, is hope that we can move from being part of the problem in climate change to being part of the solution. That is my great hope. What about the minerals resource rent tax? What about the hope and opportunity that comes from giving Australians a fair share of the mining boom, a boost to retirement savings, tax breaks for small business and a company tax cut? There is a great deal of reward, opportunity and hope in that. It frees up money to invest in states like WA so that we can keep our economy moving and invest in the generation of future wealth for our nation. What about the hope and opportunity that comes with doubled investment in school education, upgraded facilities at every school and the provision of more information to parents than ever before? I think that is fantastic. We have also created 130,000 new training places. What do we speak to when we speak of hope, opportunity and reward for Australians? It gives them the opportunity to make the most of the opportunities that are in our growing economy today in states like Western Australia that have a huge demand for skilled people. We must invest in these skilled training places to make the most of the opportunities that are before us as a nation. That is why we created these 130,000 new training places. It was exactly so we could deliver hope, opportunity and reward to Australians. What about hope, opportunity and reward for seniors? What about the historic increase to the Australian pension? What about the fact that we are now looking at improving aged care to give older people more choice and more control? What about the record investment of more than $36 billion in projects around the country? What about the flood levy—the fact that we needed to deliver tough savings to provide the $5.8 billion to flood affected regions in Queensland, Victoria and my home state of Western Australia? What about the hope that comes for those families that are really looking forward to Australia's first national disability insurance scheme? More than 280 bills have passed through the House of Representatives and more than 230 through— (Time expired)