Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Socioeconomic disadvantage is a growing problem in this country—and we all know that. Under this Turnbull government, it has grown even more. Australia is a country that was built on egalitarianism and that foundation of equality. We heard the member for Fenner say earlier that you are more likely to travel in the front seat of a taxi here in Australia than most places around the world. Compared to any other country in the world, you are more likely to have friends from different socioeconomic backgrounds than yourself. We are a country that respects everyone, regardless of what your job is, what your income is and what your background is.

That has always been the case in this nation, and it has always been one of the reasons we have prospered so well over the years. But this current government is changing one of the most fundamental things that we have had in this nation: the foundations of our equality. The foundations were set and protected through policies that were implemented by successive Labor governments, by great people such as Chifley, Whitlam, Hawke and Keating. They all did the best they could to create equality in this country. Think back to all the major policies that led to real change in this country and made it the way it is and you will see a Labor government at the forefront. Under Whitlam, we had free education for all—a system that allowed people to attend university for the very first time, when no-one from their families had attended for generations.

Look at the way the pension was set-up under the Chifley government to give people the chance to live with dignity in their old age. This is what we are talking about—real equality, making sure that where there is inequality those gaps are reduced. These are all Labor policies that reduced inequality. As a result, they have helped to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor and ensure that a person's success was not based on their postcode, where they born, their background, their race, their colour or their religion, et cetera. These are fundamental policies that reflect basic human rights—human rights that we should all enjoy—that have been implemented by Labor governments.

What has happened in the last few years? In this nation today, we are facing a 75-year high of inequity. If we go back 75 years, it would be 1941—the beginning of World War I. This is the area we are in at the moment. Wage growth is at a 30-year low. We would have to go back to 1986 to see wage growth at the rate that it is at the moment. Wage growth in September 2016 was half of what it was four years ago—3.7 per cent in September 2012. Since this government was elected in 2013, living standards have declined by about two per cent. Today, 20 per cent of Australians cannot afford a week's holiday per year away from home, let alone sending their money on a holiday to the Cayman Islands as a tax evasion scheme, as we see happen.

Thirteen per cent of Australians cannot afford dental treatment if they need it. Every week, I see people coming to my office—pensioners, who have worked all their lives who have paid their taxes, some who have fought in wars, who cannot afford dental care. They do not have private health insurance. They do not have lots of money. They are reliant on waiting lists and can go without dentures, for example, for 12 months. Where is the equality in that? Six per cent cannot afford Christmas presents for their families—we heard that earlier from the member for Fenner.

Despite all this, the government continue to demand greater employment flexibility. What do they mean by greater employment flexibility? It means that an employer can pay people less for working on weekends, not deal with unions in the workplace, not provide a decent minimum wage, maybe sack people without notice, and have the flexibility to employ 457 visas because they do not want to pay the rates to employ local people. I will tell you want it definitely does not mean. It does not mean that a mum can ask to work from home for a couple of hours because she has a sick child or that a dad can start work an hour later to drop off the kids at school and then work an hour longer. Flexibility is skewed one way, yet this government are asking for more flexibility.

These are not just numbers; these are people's lives—their health and their livelihoods. This is all about people's futures. On top of all that, we see a government that want to give a $50 billion tax cut to the richest people— (Time expired)

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