WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT THE BIGGEST REFORM TO THE FEDERATION IN GENERATIONS:
PRIME MINISTER MALCOLM TURNBULL
* "What we are talking about is the most fundamental reform to the federation in generations."
* "The federation must work better and right at the heart of the problems in the federation is the fact that the states do not raise enough of the revenue that they spend."
* "I believe there is a real recognition that there is a failure at the heart of the federation."
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* "You always are having to have this depressing blame game where no-one really knows who is responsible for what."
* "It is a big idea. It is a commitment that we have to make our federation work better so that Australians will get better services in every level and that their state governments will be truly accountable."
TREASURER SCOTT MORRISON
* "You have a situation where you have one level of government which is running programs and controlling, or not controlling, costs and you've got another level of government which is increasingly having to foot the bill."
* "It is a very good business practice that those who fund something are also the same people who control the cost of how it's being delivered."
OPPOSITION LEADER BILL SHORTEN
* "Mr Turnbull is undermining universal taxation in Australia - that means he is undermining universal health care."
* "Australians already pay a lot of tax. If Mr Turnbull's only suggestion to fix up his budget is to increase the costs on household budgets, it is a bad idea."
