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Prime Minister Tony Abbott gave what he thought was an amusing answer when challenged about the $7 GP co-payment during a visit to St George today. Mr Abbott was defending the Tuesday budget at a news conference at Arncliffe after he and Premier Mike Baird signed a funding agreement to accelerate construction of the WestConnex motorway. He described the government’s decision to set up a new medical research fund, paid for by the $7 co-payment, as ‘‘visionary’’. When asked by the Leader why, if it was such a good idea, he did not tell the public about it before the last election, he replied with a laugh, ‘‘Sometimes, you don’t have all your good ideas at once’’. Pressed as to whether the co-payment was planned before the election, Mr Abbott said, ‘‘We certainly had the idea of making the health system work better, but, like most people, your thinking evolves and develops as your circumstances change.’’ Mr Abbott attacked Labor’s claim that the co-payment was ‘‘unconscionable’’. ‘‘How can it be all right to have a PBS [pharmaceutical benefits scheme] co-payment, to pay a few dollars to get your script filled at the pharmacist, and not be all right to pay a few dollars when you go to visit a GP?’’ he said. ‘‘How can it be unconscionable for this Coalition government to propose a co-payment and it not be unconscionable for the Hawke government when it actually implemented a co-payment in the 1990s? ‘‘What we saw [in Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s budget speech] was a Labor Party that is in denial about the debt and deficit disaster it created.’’ Mr Abbott played down the prospect of a double dissolution if the co-payment and other budget measures were blocked in the senate. ‘‘We are going to get on with governing,’’ he said. ‘‘We are confident, one way or another, we are going to be able to negotiate the various budget measures through the senate and into practice.’’ Mr Baird, who discussed funding cuts for hospitals and schools previously as ‘‘a kick in the guts for NSW,’’ appeared to soften his stance. He said the budget posed a ‘‘long-term challenge’’ for NSW but he was confident that he and other premiers, who meet on Sunday to plan a response, could ‘‘work through’’ the changes with Mr Abbott. Are you amused by Tony Abbott’s explanation? WESTCONNEX Mr Abbott and Mr Baird signed a memorandum of understanding on a WestConnex motorway funding deal announced before the Tuesday budget. The federal government will provide $2 billion as a concessional loan to the state government. This adds to $1.5 billion already provided by the federal government as a grant and $1.8 billion allocated by the state government. The two leaders said the extra funding would allow work on stage two of WestConnex — which duplicates the M5 East — to get under way from next year. This would be two years ahead of schedule, with completion brought forward to 2019. ‘‘As I have often said, it is my hope to be known as the infrastructure prime minister,’’ Mr Abbott said. ‘‘I certainly would like Mike to be an infrastructure premier, and with the co-operation we have got, both of us will be able to make an enduring mark on NSW.’’ More in the Leader next week Are you pleased with the extra WestConnex funding?

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