Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This week Tony Abbott said that 'good government starts today'. I am sure most Australians said: 'Hang on a minute. Seriously? Does that mean the government is acknowledging that every day before today they have been a bad government? Isn't that why we elected them—to be a good government?' Is the Prime Minister finally acknowledging that his budget is an absolute shocker, that it is a bad budget and that on a good day, as a good government, they are actually going to acknowledge that they have done the wrong thing?

The Prime Minister also said, 'We will not protect the Commonwealth budget at the expense of household budgets. On a day of good government, we are going to do the right thing by Australian households.' Then why is the Prime Minister still presiding over a budget that rips $5.5 billion from family budgets? On what day of good government is this Prime Minister going to back away from cutting household budgets? On what day of good government is this Prime Minister going to back away from cutting $1 billion out of child care?

On this brand new day of good government when is this government going to do something for families and stop increasing the petrol tax? If this government is serious about being a good government, serious about doing the right thing by families, then it will back down on— (Time expired)

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