Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

While a couple of members of the opposition would like to decry these facts I am sure they have taken our tax cuts and spent them. We in a Labor government are not sectarian. We do not mind if those opposite get tax cuts too. We are just a little disappointed with the lack of a thankyou note—and I will not wait for a thankyou note from some of these people as they will never be grateful.

Let us look beyond the tax system and beyond the jobs narrative and, indeed, beyond fair pay and conditions. Let us look at the safety net. What is the government doing to assist families and to assist individuals when they are doing it tough, when their incomes do not lead them to a life whereby they are able to automatically deal with all of the issues on their own without the assistance of government? We on the government side of this parliament understand that one of the things you do to assist people over cost-of-living pressures is increase pensions. Again, this is a story of significant achievement. It might not always make the front page of the newspapers. Nonetheless, millions of aged-care pensioners, millions of disability pensioners and hundreds of thousands of people in receipt of veterans payments have seen the pensions fortnightly amount increase by something like $124 or $126. Indeed, you can look at this same issue and apply it across to the parents of teenage children who are eligible to receive family tax benefit payments. In this budget we have recognised that it is important that families are supported with the costs of educating their teenage children. As teenagers grow, from their early teens to their late teens, they do not get any cheaper to look after. Their appetites do not in any fashion diminish. So it is not possible to discount the cost of raising these children.

Mr Fletcher interjecting—

The member for Bradmill may be interested to learn for once that, in fact what we are proposing with our budget—

Honourable members interjecting—

Bradfield and not Braddon—the member for Braddon is already in possession of a great deal of knowledge.

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