Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

What a telling contribution that was from the member for Casey, because in his five minutes he failed to address the impact of the broken promises of this government on rising unemployment, insecure work and the cost of living. He had nothing to say in defence of the government, and that is wholly unsurprising—so, well said, Member for Casey, as ever!

I also want to touch on the contribution of the parliamentary secretary. Unfortunately—or, perhaps, fortunately—I only caught the very end of it. He said something quite interesting, I thought. He said that he would not tolerate lectures from Labor. At one level, what a hubristic and arrogant statement that is. But, secondly, it led me back to a contribution on the part of the Prime Minister. We know all about the broken promises around 'no cuts to health, no cuts to education and no changes to pensions', but there is a more fundamental promise that has been broken by this government and this Prime Minister. I would like the parliamentary secretary to have regard to that promise, not any lectures from me. The Prime Minister said on election day:

I now look forward to forming a government that is competent, that is trustworthy and which purposefully and steadfastly and methodically sets about delivering on our commitments to you, the Australian people.

…   …   …

… in a week or so the Governor-General will swear in a new government.

A government that says what it means, and means what it says.

A government of no surprises and no excuses—

well, that bit we all remember—

A government that understands the limits of power as well as its potential.

And a government that accepts that it will be judged more by its deeds than by its mere words.

He went on to say:

I give you all this assurance—we will not let you down.

A good government is one that governs for all Australians, including those who haven’t voted for it.

A good government is one with a duty to help everyone to maximise his or her potential, indigenous people, people with disabilities, and our forgotten families, as well as those who Menzies described as ‘lifters, not leaners.’

We will not leave anyone behind.

What fine words! Lets take him and the rest of his government at them and judge him by his deeds.

Today, I am proud to join with the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Chisholm in this matter of public importance to talk about the devastating impact of the Prime Minister's budget of broken promises on jobs and on the cost of living. Earlier this afternoon, we heard the Treasurer and the finance minister try to blame Treasury estimates on Labor. What we did not hear from them was a reiteration of their pledge that the coalition would achieve a surplus in their first year in office and in every year of their first term. It has been quite the reverse, in fact, with a doubling of the deficit. All this government do is make excuses for their bad behaviour and blamed the Labor Party for everything. They are still an opposition in exile.

There was the supposed budget emergency that existed. It exists when the Treasurer is here and full of bluster, but not when he goes overseas to tell the truth. But it is not just the Treasurer doing this. Think about the $80 billion that is being ripped from health and education in Australia, specifically in health. Yesterday's report found that growth in health funding is at its lowest level in decades. Think about the impact of the GP tax. The most important issue to my constituents in Scullin is the end of universal health care. Far from no cuts to health, we are seeing a massive cost-of-living impact as well as quality-of-life impact from these broken promises in health.

We have heard about education from the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Chisholm. It is hard not to see—although members opposite seem to struggle with this—the cost-of-living impact of this doubling or tripling of university costs. Far from enabling people to maximise their potential, this government is curtailing life choices.

The Minister for Social Services continues to spread the untruth that this government are not cutting pensions when their own budget papers show this. They bank the savings and yet swear blind in here that there are no cuts. Is this really a government that says what it means and means what it says? Of course not. They have no sense of the importance of security and dignity in retirement. When I think about the cost of living, I think about insecure work. I think about the unemployment rate that the Treasurer will not and cannot talk about. I think about inaccessible and unaffordable child care, compounded by decisions in this parliament at the moment. I think about the GP tax. I think about the attacks on primary health care. I think about the petrol tax. National Party members might wish to raise that issue and that broken promise. I think about the cutting of public transport support and, indeed, the junior minister mocking the costs of congestion. I think about the consumer protection changes. This government has launched into an all-out assault on the cost of living for Australian families and has broken trust in doing so. (Time expired)

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