Senator ABETZ (Tasmania—Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Minister for Employment) (14:00): Anybody that would have looked at the budget papers would have seen that there is actually an increase in funding in this budget for health and education. Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! On my left. Senator Cameron interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Cameron. Senator ABETZ: And what I say to those opposite is that when one is confronted with one thousand million dollars' worth of borrowings each and every month simply to fund the interest payments on the borrowings from when Senator Wong was the Minister for Finance, the architect of this debt and deficit trajectory— Senator Wong: Just say 'yes we broke our promises'. The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Wong. Senator ABETZ: She who was the architect has the audacity to come into this place and then assert that somehow we should not be fixing the problems. Indeed, the Labor Party itself went to the last election saying that the budget had to be brought back into shape. The regrettable thing is that the Labor Party, having said they identify the need, are unwilling to do anything in relation to fixing it. Senator Conroy: Is it true that George has booked you for a weekly appearance on The Project? The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Conroy, your colleague is on her feet waiting for the call. Senator Moore: Mr President, I rise on a point of order of direct relevance. The question was specifically about election promises. I would ask you to draw the attention of the minister to the question. The PRESIDENT: The minister was being directly relevant. Minister, you have the call. Senator ABETZ: What Mr Abbott and the coalition promised the Australian people was that we would stop the boats, that we would get rid of the carbon tax. And what we also said was that we would fix the budget mess left to us by the Australian Labor Party. Having had no shame in creating the mess, you would have thought they may at least have had the decency to assist in cleaning up the mess. Clearly, there is no shame with the Labor Party in this area. Senator Wong: Do you stand by the promise or not? The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Wong. Senator ABETZ: And we are very pleased to confirm that our election commitments are being honoured. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Wong, before I call you for the supplementary question, the noise on the left is terrible. It is only the first question. Senator Wong, you did ask the question and you interjected consistently so could I ask that interjections cease. Senator Conroy: Are you protecting Eric? The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Conroy.