Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

What do we do for Defence people? We give Defence people what they want. What have you done? I would ask you across the opposite side, but I will give you time to be able to decipher things and maybe one day you will learn. The measures that this government have put into the budget have shown that the only thing they believe in consistently is taxing those who can least afford it. Former Prime Minister Keating said:

You don't expect conservative governments to believe in much but, at least, you expect them to believe in thrift.

Well, this government does not even go that far. What they have done through their cuts to the pension is to make sure that 3.7 million pensioners are $80 a week worse off by the end of the decade. It is an absolute disgrace that this government has no plan for a fair and sustainable future for our country. (Time expired)

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