Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to express my grave concern for the Australian people at the reckless way the Rudd government splashed around borrowed money as part of the latest stimulus package. The Liberal-National coalition has said from the very beginning that this decision to throw money around willy-nilly was ill thought out and rushed. Now that the bonus payments have been rolled out across Australia by the Australian Taxation Office and it is now clear who is receiving them and who is not, it has become even more obvious how hastily this decision was made. This is not surprising from a government that focuses everything on spin and nothing on substance. The tragedy is that many hardworking people have missed out on the bonus, yet they will be saddled with the debt just like every other Australian, while we have seen cash splashed upon people who have in fact left our shores.

Since the Prime Minister’s cash splash was announced I have had a number of calls to my electorate office from constituents who will not receive the bonus. They are angry because they feel there should have been a fair go for all and they see this as quite unfair. Despite working hard, they will not receive any money from the Prime Minister’s Santa sack. Understandably, they think it is an unfair decision by a Prime Minister who so often talked up a ‘fair go’ for all Australians during the election.

See this speech in context