Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I am very glad to have the opportunity to talk about the cost of living, because this Labor government is doing so much to help Australians. We are a Labor government and the reason why we are in this place is to act to improve people's lives, to make life easier, to improve services, to spread opportunity, to support working families. What we have from Tony Abbott's coalition is an anti-Labor party and they are anti-Labor because, no matter what we do, they oppose it. They are anti-Labor to their core because they oppose workplace rights and, at every opportunity they get, they cut services to working people. For a long time under the former Howard government, many Australians found themselves wondering why they were not able to share in the benefits of the boom, why services shrank, why costs and interest rates rose. An Abbott government would be no different. The budget has been well received by Australians. That is because it is a budget which helps Australians and all we have is Liberal opportunism that is seeking to take advantage of any downturn in the economy. Those opposite love to talk down the economy.

We need to keep steadily in mind what is at stake here. The government needs to act on climate change. Any responsible government of Australia needs to act on climate change. There is an absolute consensus among climate scientists that climate change is real, that there will be significant future impacts if no action is taken to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. A low carbon global economy is coming. It is up to us to decide whether we help Australian business take advantage of this or simply bury our heads in the sand, which is what those opposite wish to do.

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