Mr HORNE (2:23 PM) —My question without notice is to the Acting Prime Minister and Leader of the National Party. Are you aware that the member for Herbert said last week that you and your National Party colleagues, Ministers Vaile and Truss, are being rolled in cabinet and that the cabinet basically comprises citycentric people? Is the member for Herbert right? Don't you get rolled consistently by your citycentric colleagues?

Mr ANDERSON (Deputy Prime Minister) —This is coming from a member of the opposition, an opposition which have opposed almost all of the extraordinary length and breadth of worthwhile initiatives that the government has introduced in rural and regional Australia. There was $1.5 billion for the Natural Heritage Trust. Where were the ALP? They opposed it. Under Networking the Nation, there was $1 billion worth of expanded capability and technology for telecommunications in rural and regional Australia. Where were the ALP? They opposed it. There was $800 million for Agriculture Advancing Australia—a far more sophisticated package than the old Rural Adjustment Scheme, far more effective and far better appreciated. Where were the ALP? They opposed it, although I did see the shadow minister for agriculture the other day describe it as a popular program. There is no doubt about it: they oppose it until they realise it has been well received and it is working—

Mr Rudd —Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order which relates to standing order 145. Nothing that the Acting Prime Minister has said is in any way relevant to the question raised by the member for Paterson, which was: has he been rolled or not in cabinet?

Mr SPEAKER —The Acting Prime Minister is answering the question as asked, and I invite him to continue.

Mr ANDERSON —The whole point of this is that an effective team in government are delivering very important outcomes for rural and regional Australia. The evidence is there that we are delivering as a government. It is as simple as that. Let me continue. With health, after the extraordinary neglect of the needs of the very large number of Australians who happen not to live in the major urban centres of this nation, the Minister for Health and Aged Care and the government have put together a program to turn that around substantially to ensure that people in rural and regional Australia have the same sort of access to health that their city counterparts take for granted. I come to education. We have recently seen initiatives for people living in isolated areas, like the discounting of the assets test to enable small businesses and farmers who are asset rich but income poor to educate their children properly. All of that was done in the context of us having to right the budgetary mess that you left us. We were able to correct that and drive interest rates and inflation down—the two great killers that you allowed to eat away at the wellbeing of rural and regional Australia like a cancer. The question really is so trite as to be utterly laughable.