Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Disability Reform) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie very much for her question but also for the hard work she does in her electorate for all the families and pensioners that she cares so much about. This government is managing the economy and doing it in the interests of Australian families and pensioners.

Of course, it is this government that delivered Australia's first paid parental leave scheme, which is now delivering to around 150,000 families, and those 150,000 families no longer have to make the difficult choice between staying at home to look after their newborn baby or going back to work. It is also this government that is delivering to those families who have older teenagers staying on at school. We know that that places an added financial burden on families, so this government has delivered up to $4,200 extra a year for those families, never delivered by those opposite. It is this government that is also delivering tax cuts, making sure that families get more money in their take-home pay. It is also the case that it is this government, on our watch, that has seen interest rates go down. A family with a $300,000 mortgage is now paying around $3,000 a year less than they were paying when the Liberals opposite were still in government.

We know how important it is to manage the economy, to deliver for families, to deliver for pensioners. When this Leader of the Opposition was in cabinet he said no to a pension rise. This Leader of the Opposition said that paid parental leave would happen over his dead body.

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