Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will start by commenting on some of the points made by the member for Hume. I think it was interesting that he and other speakers did not talk about the budget. That is quite fascinating. Those on the other side of the chamber are pretending it did not happen. Because they are really embarrassed they did not mention anything about it, but this is what this matter of public importance is actually about.

I would assume that most of those on the other side of the chamber are highly embarrassed. They have to go back to their electorates now and talk about some of the measures that are devastating—particularly for regional and rural Australia. That is why I am very pleased to be speaking on this matter of public importance today.

When I look at electorates like mine in regional New South Wales I see that people there are feeling very betrayed by the Liberal Party and the Nationals and what they have done in this budget. It is a very cruel and unfair budget in many of the measures that are being brought in. It is full of broken promises that will hurt pensioners, families and people who are really struggling to make ends meet.

Many people in regional and rural Australia are struggling to make ends meet and this budget has made it so much harder. I have been approached by so many people that are particularly concerned about the suite of measures that this government has brought in with this budget—particularly the GP tax, the petrol tax, and the cuts to pensions and family benefits. Indeed, the people in my region on the North Coast of New South Wales feel particularly betrayed. I imagine that Australians right across the country, including in regional and rural areas, feel equally betrayed by this Liberal-Nationals government.

But this is what we get from Liberal-Nationals governments. We get cuts to pensions. We get services slashed. We get higher taxes. And people in the regions are really angry about it. In my area they are so upset about it that we are going to have a big rally on 12 June. We are calling it the 'fighting for a fair go' rally. I will touch on the public reaction in relation to that rally in just a second.

We hear from this government lots of talk all the time about regional and rural Australia but they never actually deliver anything for them. It is all just talk. That is because the government—particularly the Nationals—take the country for granted. And this budget really shows that they do, because the cuts in this budget are hitting harder in country areas—so much harder. Bringing in a petrol tax hits people in country areas harder; people in country areas have to drive further. It pushes up the costs of many things they have to buy as well.

When you have a GP tax it hurts the people in the country a lot harder. When you cut funding to hospitals it hurts those people in regional and rural areas so much more. When you cut funding to universities and deregulate fees it is the kids in the country that are hit hardest because they will not be able to get to university. That is the reality of their futures. And when you reduce assistance to areas like local governments that will severely impact all regional and rural areas.

If we have a look at some of those cuts when it comes to local government, we see a $1 billion cut in funding to the financial assistance grants and there is also the termination of the national partnership for concessions for seniors. That also impacts a lot of the rate rebates that a lot of senior citizens get. On top of those cuts to financial assistance grants, that will severely impact so many of our councils and their ability to provide services. This government has just walked away from regional and rural Australia. That is really going to impact all of those councils. In my area, if you go from Bellingen right to the New South Wales-Queensland border, there are about $20 million in cuts there—a huge amount—which will really impact on the ability of the councils to provide really important services.

I spoke before about the rally that we are having in my electorate. Indeed, it was highlighted today in a great local publication, the Tweed Sun. The front page says 'Grey backlash'. The headline is: 'Rally and petition planned to send message to Canberra: pensioners rally to fight the budget'. The article refers to the Vice President of the Affiliated Residential Park Residents Association, Ken Cummins. He started a petition for low-income earners who are upset with the new budget, so that they can register their disapproval, and he has been taking copies all around the place. He is saying that people are concerned about their ability to afford things like going to the doctor and they are concerned about the petrol tax as well. I thank Ken for the great work that he has been doing with his community.

Another great publication, the Tweed Valley Weekly, had a major story—'Rally to protest budget planned'. The article refers to a pensioner, Pat Withers from Kingscliff, who holds strong concerns for what the budget means for people in his position. He said:

This just makes things a lot worse for pensioners, in lots of different ways … power bills, phone bills, council rates, vehicle registration, all these will go up along with … the GP tax and the petrol tax which are just going to drive up the cost of living.

Pat is very much aware of how difficult it is going to be. He said:

I'm too frightened to work out how much it's all going to cost and terrified to think about what will happen to pensioners.

Remember that many of our seniors live in regional Australia, and they are being severely impacted by this budget because a lot of them have retired there. It is such a huge impost upon them.

The fact is that this Liberal-National government have walked away from rural and regional Australia for so many reasons. We see this budget compounding the already difficult situation that many of these people are in. It really is shameful. (Time expired)

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