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

For a bunch of old boys, it appears they have forgotten the first rules of debate. You have to have an opposition that asks questions and challenges policy that is being put forward. You would think that with all the private school education there is on the front bench, they would understand the first rules of debate. This government is the one that started the debate on GST. Look at the headlines that they created all on their own: 'Changes to the GST back on agenda', West Australian, 22 September 2015; 'Turnbull might take GST hike to next election', The Age, 17 September 2015; 'Rise in GST signalled for next election', Sydney Morning Herald, 17 September.

This government is now saying, 'No, we're not going to have a debate with the opposition. We can't possibly have a debate with the opposition.' Maybe they want to debate themselves. Maybe it is a standing-in-front-of-the-mirror exercise. Maybe the Prime Minister has been standing in front of the mirror and maybe there has been a bit of 'Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?' Maybe that is what the Prime Minister has been up to, because he will not answer a question in this place from the opposition, which is responsible for asking questions on core government policies. And this is one of those policies. Perhaps it is because his backbench has been quick in there to say, 'This is a stinker. This is a policy that will cost us our seats.' Perhaps the reason the government is now pretending that it did not raise the issue of the GST is that it is unpopular.

The mums and dads that the member for Wannon talks about know what it will cost them. Country electorates and regional electorates like mine are worried. They are concerned about the fact that this government has refused to rule out GST on their rents. Housing affordability is a real issue, and yet this government tries to say that it is a state responsibility. Well, rule out GST on rents then. This government has also refused to rule out GST on rates. Country electorates like mine have councils which have increased rates by 18 per cent over three years, and that is why the state Labor government is talking about rate capping. You can imagine the shock and horror of local governments when faced with rate capping, and now this government wants to increase the GST by five per cent so that any benefits of rate capping are lost. They are lost because this government wants to increase the GST, but it will not give that back to local government. No, the local government assistance grants are still frozen. The government has upset local government by failing to rule out GST on rates.

What about a GST on fresh food? You would think that the member for Wannon and all the other country MPs, particularly the national MPs, would be up in arms. How is this going to help the farm-gate prices? They keep saying over and over again that an increase in farm-gate prices is what will save this country. You whack 15 per cent on that, and you see whether people can afford their grocery bills when they go to the checkout. Now let us go to fuel. When John Howard was in government and introduced the GST, he said that we had to freeze the fuel excise because we were introducing a 10 per cent GST. What did this government try to do in its first budget? Increase fuel excise! Eventually, they got their wish: they have increased fuel excise and less than six months later they are talking about whacking another five per cent on to fuel. What does this government have against country people? We drive further in the region; we spend more on fuel because we drive further; and now we are going to have to pay more to this government in GST.

Then we get to schools. This government abolished the Schoolkids Bonus and it is introducing more and more cuts which they are pushing on the families by changing the family tax benefit. And now they want to increase the GST. Mums and dads know this government for what it is—it is only going after them. Those in the government are not going after their mates in business, they are not going after the big end of town's multinational tax avoidance; they are going after the hip pocket of mums and dads. Let's not forget about Christmas. This has to be one of the meanest governments to go after Christmas. Now the Christmas ham, the great Aussie prawns, the turkey and all the trimmings will go up as result of this government's plan to increase the GST.

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