Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think there is one thing that the member for Ryan will not be telling his electorate—that is, this evening in the Senate the coalition voted against changes to the Medicare surcharge levy and a $1,200 tax cut for people who are doing it tough. It will be an enormous disappointment to the people in my electorate, in the electorate of the member for Longman and, I suspect, in the electorate of the member for Ryan. This is something that would have given relief to thousands of people. For some young families, it would have meant a tax cut of up to $1,200. That is a lot of money. To give you an idea of how much money this is, it is about double the benefit that was received from a cut in interest rates only a few weeks ago. If you have an average sized mortgage, a cut in interest rates of 25 basis points would put $50 back in your wallet or purse. If the opposition had done the responsible thing, if they had been in touch with the people they say they represent, they would have voted the right way in the Senate this evening and given people a $1,200 tax cut. But they did not do that.

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