Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about this matter of public importance—the unfairness being inflicted on Australians in just 10 days time on 1 July. Is it fair that, in pockets of my community, around a third of households have a combined income of less than $600 per week? Is it fair that 16.6 per cent of young people in my community are looking for work? Is it fair that one in two students in my community have the opportunity to complete high school? Is it fair that, on 1 July, 15,000 workers on the Central Coast will get a pay cut of up to $77 per week?

Budgets are about priorities, and this government's budget is just not fair. At the heart of every government should be a sense of fairness, making sure that people and families most in need are helped and never left behind. This government abandoned any sense of fairness a long time ago. In 10 days time, on 1 July, it is going to get a lot worse for many Australians. Fairness should be at the heart of all government decisions. The Turnbull government is ideologically driven—determined to return favours to its supporters in the big end of town at the expense of those who can least afford it in regional Australia, like my community. On 1 July, the Turnbull government will deliver a $16,400 tax cut to millionaires and, the very next day, cut the penalty rates for 700,000 of Australia's lowest paid workers, resulting in a pay cut of $6,000 every year for half a million Australians working in the retail and hospitality industries. On top of this, the government intends to increase income tax for all PAYE taxpayers who earn over $21,000 per year. Is that fair?

The cut in penalty rates is a cruel blow to hardworking Australians. It comes at the same time as the Reserve Bank sounds the alarm bells on slow wages growth and the very real impact this will have on Australians' standard of living.

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