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

In the few minutes that I have left I would like to finish reading the email that I received from Sharon. Sharon is somebody who is very concerned about this government's attempts to again cut family tax benefits A and B. In her email she pleads for this House not so support the measures in this bill. She says that the impact of cutting family tax benefit B would reduce her income to $290 per week and it is simply not enough for her and her 13-year-old daughter to survive on. She says that she has worked hard to try to find work in central Victoria but there are not a lot of jobs available for single parents that fit with caring arrangements. She said: 'As you know, central Victoria is a region of high unemployment, and I continue to look for work and apply, have the interviews and get rejected.' She has tried to do vocational training, but with the closure of some of our TAFE courses it is hard to get the extra training she requires. She says in the conclusion of her email: 'Please do not humiliate and punish my daughter and me any further, or thousands of other single parents. We need your support and not your cuts or these cruel measures.' I agree with Sharon, and she is brave to speak out and raise these issues. She and so many other single parents are the people that this government continues to attack with these harsh measures.

Since the 2014 budget this government has tried multiple times to cut family tax benefit A and family tax benefit B, which would push more single parents and more low-income families into poverty. Approximately 1.5 million families are going to lose family tax benefit A supplements, a cut of $700 per child per year. That is around 600,000 single-parent families and 500,000 families that are on the maximum rate, meaning their combined family income is less than $51,000 a year.

The average income in the Bendigo electorate is $53,000 a year. So lots and lots of families in the Bendigo electorate will be affected by this cut. One point three million families will lose family tax benefit B supplement—a cut of more than $350 per family per year.

These cuts being put forward by this government demonstrate one thing: it does not matter who the Prime Minister is; they are still mean and tricky. It does not matter who the Prime Minister is or who their front bench is; they are still going to go after those on the smallest of incomes in our community.

I cannot understand why there are not more regional Liberal and Nationals MPs speaking up against these changes. In the regions there are more of the families that will be affected by this change than in other parts of Australia. As I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, there are just under 20,000 families that will be affected in my own electorate, and 20,000 families in the seat of Mallee and the seat of Murray, and over 20,000 families in the seat of Wannon. That is a lot of regional Victoria that will be affected by these cuts. That is on top of already losing the schoolkids bonus, which will cease after this year. It is also on top of the government going after these workers' penalty rates and saying that people who work on a Sunday can cop a 37 per cent pay cut. This is on top of the increasing costs of the basics—the cost of electricity going up; the cost of rent going up; the cost of fuel going up. This government is also proposing a 15 per cent GST—a tax on a tax when it comes to the fuel excise.

People in central Victoria, in regional Victoria, do not trust this government when it comes to their incomes, and they have a right not to. These bills should be voted down. People in regional Victoria cannot afford these cuts, and the government should withdraw them.

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