Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

'Tis that time of year again, when I tell a Christmas tale, about the LNP's turmoils, desperations and endless fails. This year it wasn't hard which story to choose, because we have a Prime Minister who is Ebenezer Scrooge. Before every LNP budget former Treasurer Scott Morrison would sit in his ivory tower, counting his dollars with unyielding power. The Australian people would beg for some investment in jobs and health and action on energy and education, but Treasurer Morrison would always refuse and give nothing but cuts and privatisation. Scrooge Morrison has been the architect of every single cut, for he is what has put my home, Townsville, in its current rut. Just like Ebenezer Scrooge's worker, Fred, my town has been left begging; workers, families, veterans and pensioners doing nothing but fretting, about how, under the LNP, the local retail worker is receiving a pay cut, and how, due to no action on energy, local small businesses are shut. There are people choosing between medical visits and paying electricity bills, and our pensioners cannot afford to pay for their own pills. Scrooge Morrison has made massive cuts to education and health—

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