John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am aware of criticisms that have been made, especially by the Leader of the Opposition since he assumed that position, to the effect that this government has not ensured that the prosperity that this nation has undeniably enjoyed over the last decade has been fairly spread throughout the community. He has even employed that strange word ‘brutopia’ to describe the policy approach that this government has taken. In Labor’s Family Watch Task Force report, which was released on 7 May 2007, this is what the Labor Party had to say, and this is what should be examined against the reality:

... the interaction between welfare and the family payments systems is punishing—

punishing, would you believe —

middle and low income earners ...

It went on to say:

The Howard Government has delivered ad-hoc tax and family payment adjustments without addressing crippling effective tax rates for low and middle income families.

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