Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to stand up and speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2018-2019, and I'm pleased to stand up and point out some of the very significant flaws that we see in this bill. These appropriation bills continue to lock in some of the worst features of previous budgets from this Turnbull-Abbott government.

These appropriations bills—this budget—still continues to rely on cuts to the pension, to increasing the pension age to 70, one of the oldest in the world. There's a continued commitment to taking $14 a fortnight away from pensioners. We know that energy costs are through the roof but, of course, this government wants to take away the energy supplement from pensioners. The $715 million of cuts to hospitals are still there. The $40 million cut from allied health services for veterans is just an extraordinary little nugget of cruelty in this budget. $40 million is not a great deal in the size of the federal budget, but to take that money away from veterans who rely on this service to have their teeth seen to just shows the cheapness and the meanness, and how out of touch this government is.

Of course, there's the $83 million cut from the ABC. This is a government that will take any opportunity it can to shut down dissent, criticism or even scrutiny of its own agenda or claims. The ABC are copping it once again. And Medicare is still frozen for specialists. We will see, of course, more and more stories about continuing increases in out-of-pocket expenses for patients struggling to afford to see a specialist.

Yes, there are some tax cuts in this budget. We are very pleased to support the early years—the immediate tax cuts offered from 1 July this year—but we are very troubled by a long-term trajectory that takes tax cuts out beyond—it's assuming that Malcolm Turnbull's got a longevity that I'm not even sure that the Deputy Speaker would imagine he has.

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