Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know you are very aware, Mr Deputy Speaker, that International Talk Like a Pirate Day is not until Saturday, 19 September. I know it is a big day in your calendar. I know that the member for Lalor is very passionate about it and also that the member for Herbert is very passionate about it. I foreshadow it because, even though we are a long way from International Talk Like a Pirate Day, this speech is chock-a-block with maritime metaphors. So I foreshadow that in this grievance debate.

The Abbott government has been at the helm of the 'Australia' ship of state for over 18 months. In fact, we have crossed the equator. We have gone through the doldrums and we are well and truly into the second part of the journey towards an election. Obviously, this ship of state has collected more than its fair share of barnacles. Many have suggested that it has got quite a few leaks. We see that pretty much every other day in the newspapers. It is a bit of an understatement to say that the ship of state has leaks. A few weeks back—in fact, here in Canberra—we heard whisperings of a mutiny below decks. This is cause for concern, because, whilst it is only a maritime metaphor, it will impact on the Australian people, particularly the people in my electorate. Even though this ship is listing to port at an alarming angle, we need to work out what is best for the Australian people.

We are only 39 days away from the second budget of the Abbott government. We are waiting to see it announced in May. All of the people in my electorate, especially the most vulnerable, are concerned about what this budget will hold.

As passengers on this Australian ship of state they should be worried. We saw the last time around that we had a budget that was directed fairly and squarely at the poor and at those that are doing it tough in our society. It asked a little bit of the rich but asked most of the poorest people in our society. It was a very un-Australian budget. It was the first time an Australian history that we had an un-Australian budget, that attacked those most vulnerable in society.

Let's have a look at the economic state of affairs under Prime Minister Abbott. Obviously, things have not improved. The budget is in a much worse state now than when the coalition came to power. Amazingly, we have managed to increase the debt and deficit, and hit families at the same time. It takes a special kind of incompetence to do that as a government. This is a government that is all at sea. We have seen the cost of living rise. In fact, despite all of the promises made to the Australian people about power prices and removing the carbon price, power prices are 17 per cent higher in my electorate under the coalition government.

Business confidence—the real indicia, the engine room of the economy—is at rock bottom. Unemployment is the highest it has been in more than a decade. In fact, the last time unemployment was this high, the member for Warringah, Tony Abbott, was the employment minister. Sadly, in an economy that is growing, we only have half the jobs being created under the coalition government than when Labor was in office before the last election. So the employment situation is deteriorating, particularly amongst youth.

Let's look at who has been the hardest hit. Sadly, it has been those in our society who are the most vulnerable. These are the people who have been left high and dry by this government: the pensioners, the dementia sufferers and carers, the homeless and victims of domestic violence. To have a government with a Minister for Women and a Minister for Indigenous Affairs—who is also the Prime Minister—supervising cuts to women's shelters, cuts to community legal centres and cuts to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal centres is shameful. I am sure anyone with a community that has significant numbers of Indigenous people would recognise this. Sadly, we also have seen this coalition government supervise attacks on families.

So, whilst the government is prone to hoisting up the big announcements, when we look closely at what they have announced there is nothing but smoke and mirrors basically. We hear the Prime Minister say, 'We're going up to the Northern Territory to spend a few days in an Indigenous community'—a few days in an air-conditioned tent—with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. But he also supervised cuts of $530 million.

We see him working out in a gymnasium with the Defence Force people, but he delivered a pay rise that is effectively a body blow to members of our Defence Force. It is not as bad as the punch on the jaw that was actually a pay cut, but it is still a body blow to anyone that has a significant military presence in their electorate. Yesterday, we saw the coalition government announce they will continue funding for homelessness and domestic violence services, but it is too little, too late.

This is in the context of an Indigenous Affairs Minister and Prime Minister who actually said, 'It is not the job of the taxpayer to subsidise lifestyle choices', when talking about remote Indigenous Australians and their connection to land. This is a connection to land that might go back 20,000 or 30,000 or 40,000 years. This is a Prime Minister that takes a VIP jet to a party with a Liberal Party donor, but then he is able to lecture Indigenous communities that are doing it tough at the best of times, saying their connection to land is a 'lifestyle choice'.

The government announced it would continue funding for homelessness and domestic violence services—

See this speech in context