Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Public Service departments were not consulted on a solemn decision to take the nation to war. The decision had already been taken politically and ideologically by members still present on the benches opposite.

On the question of the Medicare surcharge, when those opposite introduced the Medicare levy surcharge back in 1997 they indicated that $50,000 represented a high income. They said that that was their benchmark for a high income. Furthermore, in the period since then, despite multiple representations from the community at large to do something about the indexation of that figure, in budget after budget those opposite declined to do so—including the then Treasurer, who seems to have burst out of the blocks again this morning with some rolling commentary on the upcoming budget week, which I thought was an interesting development. By any person’s definition, $50,000 is not a high income today. Working families and working Australians are under financial pressure. Therefore, for those opposite to continue to argue that that represents an acceptable benchmark for the future is remarkable. We believe that this is necessary to provide some relief to working families under pressure. That is why we are proposing this measure, and we intend to implement it.

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