Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday, during the debate on the government's attempt to muddy the waters around the future certainty of this funding, I spoke about the high level of hope and goodwill towards the delivery of the NDIS that I have experienced from my community since I became the member for Longman. That hope and goodwill came from not just people with a disability but also their families, supporters and carers. There is passion and hope in the voices of the people who speak to me about what they see as a better future—a future where they are able to make better choices about their care. For many there is hope of a level of independence that they have never, ever experienced before, and for many of the increasingly elderly carers of disabled adult children there is security in knowing that their child will continue to be cared for after they pass. But what I can tell you is that none of them have expressed a desire to achieve that at a cost to other members of the community who are also doing it tough. Not one of them have suggested to me that the cost of their brighter future should be borne by people who are unemployed or families doing it tough or, bizarrely, through a reduction of their own Centrelink payments or those of their family.

The bipartisan promise made to them was a scheme funded appropriately through the Medicare levy, where every taxpayer would pay according to their income. That is the fundamental difference in outlook from those on this side to those on the Treasury benches. We believe in lifting our community up. They believe in tricked up but trickle-down economics. We do not believe that you lift people up by attacking them. We do not believe that you encourage families to succeed by giving less. We do not believe that you shift people from unemployment by forcing them into homelessness and poverty. We do not believe it, the people of my electorate do not believe it and Australians do not believe it. The attempt by this government to rob Peter to pay Paul, while at the same time handing out $50 billion in corporate tax cuts to the big end of town, is about the least Australian thing you can contemplate a government doing. Almost $7½ billion of those tax cuts are to the big four banks alone. On this side of the House, we do not think the big four banks need another extraordinary bonus—

Ms McBride interjecting—

They need a royal commission. You are absolutely right. That is what they need. People in Longman are sick and tired of seeing CEOs of big companies getting richer while they continue to struggle. People in Longman are sick and tired of seeing the big banks ripping them off while the government refuses to take action to rein them in and now proposes handing them back $7.4 billion in tax cuts. The people in Longman are tired of having to fight to get a basic service, such as a post office, or acceptable mobile phone coverage while this government proposes handing back $30 billion in tax cuts to multinational companies based offshore. Quite frankly, the people of Longman are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Having heard the stories of the organisations and the people who work in the communities that are represented by the member for Petrie—and it is a bit of a shame he has just walked out of the chamber—or the member for Dickson, that are just beside me, I know that Longman really is not alone here. Not a single person has bailed me up in the street to ask me to support cuts and to be more generous to banks, but what they do stop and talk to me about is the pressure on them as working families—older Australians and the disabled. They want a government that cares about the NDIS and that cares about jobs. They want to see apprenticeships and traineeships for the kids. They want high-quality, affordable child care for their kids and their grandkids. They want corporate Australia to pay their fair share.

This government's priorities are twisted. They care far more about delivering to their corporate mates than to the good people of Longman. If they cared about it, they would demonstrate it by putting to bed their cruel cuts to pensioners, working families, the unemployed and the disabled and would, instead, figure out a way not to cut tax to multinationals, but to ensure they actually pay their fair share. This government needs to stop using the NDIS and the people who it is bringing so much hope to as political footballs and instead deliver the NDIS that they deserve.

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