Senator IAN MACDONALD (6:56 PM) —It is interesting that Senator Cameron should use his five minutes on the Report on GST revenue sharing relativities: 2010 review to mount one of the few defences of Mr Rudd’s proposed health scheme. We all know, and I think Australians generally know, that Mr Rudd’s scheme was, as always, all talk and no action. Of course, it was designed to take the attention away from the Labor government’s pure mismanagement of the giveaway insulation program overseen by Minister Garrett. Mr Rudd had to do something, so he tried to divert attention with this hastily thought up hospital program. Curiously, that is why I came into the chamber—to talk about GST relativities and to try and find out from the Labor government exactly how they were going to take 30 per cent of GST revenues from the states and feed them into this particular program. Of course, we all know that, as silly and completely incompetent as most of the states are—and I exclude Western Australia from that—they will not give you 30 per cent of the GST, Senator Cameron, and you knew it, and so did your leader, Mr Rudd. And I see you nodding in agreement with me. So you have all known that this great hospital plan will not—

Senator Cameron —Mr Acting Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. Senator Macdonald has put words into my mouth that were never there. I do not and did not agree with him, and I would ask him to retract that statement.

The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT (Senator McGauran)—There is no point of order.

Senator IAN MACDONALD —Certainly there were no words, but a nodding of the head up and down, as opposed to from side to side, tells me something. But Mr Rudd would agree with me in private, Senator Cameron. We all know Mr Rudd brought this program in knowing that the states would not approve it and knowing that this Senate, which is the states’ house, would also not approve it. So it was all more of this ‘blah, blah, blah’. It is why people—not me, I might add, but others—are calling him Prime Minister Blah Blah, because it is all talk and no action. This particular document on relativities of GST brings this to the fore.

In passing, I might note, from this document, that the powerhouse states of Australia who are keeping Australia going at the moment—that is, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory; it is Northern Australia where all the wealth of this nation comes from—do very badly out of these proposed changes. Western Australia in particular does very badly and that has been commented upon by Premier Barnett. I note that the Northern Territory has been absolutely shattered by this proposal, and I will expect the Northern Territory Labor Party senator to be in here criticising this report on those grounds. While my home state of Queensland has not gone backwards, it has barely gone forward. And these are the states that are keeping Australia going.

Can someone from the Labor Party tell me how the states are possibly going to deal with this grab of 30 per cent of their GST moneys? We all know of course that it only needs one state to object, and clearly the state Labor government in Victoria is going to object, so this whole hospital plan is nothing more than blah, blah, blah.

Senator Cameron —The Australian public will enlighten them.

Senator IAN MACDONALD —If Mr Rudd or Senator Cameron had any credibility they would explain how the states are going to get by with 30 per cent of their GST revenue, their only growth tax, being taken back from them. That is highlighted in this report on GST revenue sharing relativities. It also, curiously, completely negates the argument that Senator Cameron was, in all loyalty to his leader—and I respect him for doing that—putting. But he cannot have meant anything that he said in his comments on the public hospital funding proposed by Mr Rudd. We all know it is a fraud. We all know it is more of Mr Rudd’s ‘all talk and no action’ approach to government. It will not succeed—but then Mr Rudd never wanted it to succeed. He never thought it would. He knew, as Senator Cameron knows, that the states will not agree to it. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.