Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

Christmas is a time of giving, but not for the Turnbull government, which is intent on taking. It wants to take money away from Australian families by cutting family payments and increasing their cost of living by increasing the GST or adding it to more items. In my electorate, under the Turnbull government's plan, 11,275 families receiving family tax benefit part A will lose $726 a year for every child and 9,423 families will also be hit with cut of $354 as a result of cuts to FTB part B. Single-parent families will be particularly hard hit when their youngest child turns 13, ending up $4,700 a year worse off. On top of these cuts, the Turnbull government wants to increase the GST, adding on average another $4,000 a year to the cost of living. For families already struggling with living costs, raising the GST by 50 per cent or adding it to essential items such as fresh food and medical costs will make their lives even more difficult. This out-of-touch government has lost control of its budget, with budget deficits projected to blow out by a further $38 billion, and it thinks it is fair to make those who can least afford it foot the bill. Labor will fight these unfair cuts and any GST increase all the way to the next election because Labor believes in a real fairness, where high-income earners and tax avoiders pay their fair share of tax. It will not take money away from families— (Time expired)

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