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

Last Christmas the Abbott government sought to attack the wages and conditions of Australian workers. The then Treasurer sent his Christmas wish list off to the Productivity Commission, putting at stake everything that matters for everyone who works for a living. What has changed in a year? This year, they want to beef up the GST to make sure that families pay more for what they put under the tree and, indeed, for everything else. This Prime Minister's Christmas wish is to play the Grinch: to raise and broaden the GST and to cut benefits for families, especially single-parent families. In my electorate of Scullin, over 12,000 families will be $700 a year worse off due to family tax benefit A cuts, and nearly 11,000 families will lose $350 a year because of family tax benefit B cuts. If the Prime Minister gets his way, average families will be working harder and ending up with less in their bank accounts, while his mates—the mates of all of those opposite—will get off without paying their fair share. Let's make no mistake about this whatsoever: this Prime Minister, whatever he says, is just as committed as his predecessor to making Australia a less equal place. Let's also be clear about this: the Labor Party stands resolutely opposed to this agenda. It is resolutely opposed to raising and broadening the GST and to these unfair, regressive family payment cuts.

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