Andrew Broad (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm trying to work out how the government's unfair cuts, including those cuts to child care and penalty rates, have impacts on marine parks and fishing! It's a very broad scope, and I've got to say that for those fishermen who aren't getting their penalty rates, because they've got their children in child care, it's tragic! It's a great stretch, but it clearly shows that when it comes to the depth of this topic, those opposite have got nothing. They couldn't even fill out their MPI time to talk about the topic.

It reminds me a little bit, I've got to say, of: 'promise and not provide, talk and not deliver, deceive, but, worse, disappoint'. That was the example of the opposition when it was formerly in government, when they talked about what is a cut and what isn't a cut. I want to run through this. It reminds me of when I was a good-looking young man and this nice girl was going to come up to me and we were going to go on a date that night. My mate said it was never going to happen. But I was there. I turned up. I had my little rose and I was all psyched up. Do you know what happened? She didn't turn up. I should have known: promise, not provide, talk, don't deliver, deceive, and I was disappointed.

That has been the case when it comes to education, particularly. All of the 118 schools in the electorate of Mallee have got more under our government. Every childcare centre is going to be better off in our area. This is the contrast. We have a package here for child care that actually does deliver. It delivers for vulnerable children. There is a child safety net for families earning under $66,000—they are going to get a little bit of extra assistance. For a person earning $60,000 who has a family and child care costs of $100 a day, they will be subsidised to the extent that it is only going to cost them $15 a day. When it comes to looking after children and families, it actually is the National Party that is delivering. There was a lot of criticism of the National Party by the opposition, who said they represent regional Australia. They don't even come out and visit regional Australia. I can't remember when a Labor MP actually visited my part of the world.

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