Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

You can use whatever arguments you like, you can use whatever rhetoric you want to, but the proof is there. The highest taxing governments are Liberal governments, and they stand condemned for that. They stand condemned for trying to convince Australians that they are there to create a healthier economy, that they are there for them. Their healthier economy is hitting those on low and middle incomes and then putting a great big tax on everything; it is hitting families with a 50 per cent increase in GST, not a 15 per cent increase. Let us look at it in real terms. This Liberal government is looking at increasing the GST by 50 per cent. That is an enormous increase and it will have an enormous impact on families. It is also looking at extending the GST to everything—the great big tax on everything. This will hit Australians from the time they are born until the time they die. That is what this government is about—hitting Australians, hitting people who can least afford it and looking at making their lives difficult.

I was mesmerised as I watched the member for Dobell's contribution to this debate. It seems to me that she has been stalking union officials. Why would you stalk union officials when you are back in your electorate? Surely, you would be working with your constituents. She actually had four people ring her office. If there were robo calls going out to constituents in the Shortland electorate, they would be ringing me and telling me. To be quite honest, when the changes to the boundaries occur, part of the Shortland electorate—Lake Haven and Gorokan—is deemed to go into Dobell. Those two areas are low-income areas, and I know—because I am regularly in those areas and I will regularly be in those areas—that the people living in those areas do not want an increase in GST. They do not like the government's attack on the family tax benefit. They know that those on the other side of this House have absolutely no concern for them. And they will be very interested when they find out that instead of listening to people, the member for Dobell is actually stalking union officials when she should be out there fighting for her constituents.

Today we learnt another fact: former Treasurer Hockey had a plan—a cunning plan, an evil plan—to sneak in a GST extension. It was pretty obvious to all of us on this side of the House that that was where the Treasurer was going. But a GST extension will be bad for health and bad for education. We need Australians to be able to afford to purchase fresh food. We do not need disincentives for their being able to purchase food. We do not need disincentives for their being able to go and see a doctor— (Time expired)

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