Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing and Seniors) Share this | Hansard source

I was very surprised that the member for Bass, who moved this motion, was so enthusiastic about it that she couldn't even talk for the whole five minutes! Maybe that's because, in the first sentence, she admitted that 60 per cent of her electorate will not be getting these tax cuts. And why would that be? It is because so many Tasmanians earn less than $40,000 and will not be getting $1,000 in their tax returns. It is because many Tasmanians rely on government support payments. Her government's minister said the pension was generous. There are plenty of Tasmanian pensioners who don't think the pension is generous, because they are battling to keep a roof over their head in terms of the housing crisis that has been created by the state and federal Liberal governments in Tasmania today. There are also a lot of Newstart recipients in the Bass electorate who will not get a tax cut to help stimulate the Tasmanian economy. Interestingly, the member for Bass said she thinks her government should consider raising the rate of Newstart. Perhaps she can tell the Prime Minister that that is her view and add her name to the list of people on her side of the House who think people on Newstart should receive some sort of increase.

The thing about these tax cuts is that a lot of low-income people who are earning a wage are not going to get $1,000. I have been talking to people in my electorate who have already submitted their tax returns, and I have found only one that got the full $1,000. This is because so many Tasmanians actually don't earn the national average income. Tasmanians are doing it tougher. We hear the member for Bass talk about how wonderful the Tasmanian economy is—and the Prime Minister says 'it's heading in the right direction'—but in the last 12 months Tasmania has lost 6,200 full-time jobs. That is a terrible thing. We have the highest unemployment in the country in Tasmania. I am saddened that the member for Bass, with her first private member's motion, can't talk for the full five minutes about the tax cuts that the government's introducing. She hasn't actually spoken about how Tasmanians are doing it tough, and she thinks these tax cuts are the only answer.

The government went to the election with really no more policy than tax cuts. There are a few local election commitments from the Liberal Party, mostly in northern Tasmania, but too Tasmanians are doing it tough. Too many Tasmanians are going doing it tough in the housing crisis. Too many Tasmanians can't find a job. Too many Tasmanians can't enrol at TAFE or at the university because of state and federal Liberal governments. Too many Tasmanians are sitting in ambulances ramped at hospitals because of the underfunding of the health system by state and federal Liberal governments.

We had to sit through the Minister for Health, in question time today, talking about how wonderful the federal Liberal government's investments in Tasmanian health are. They are not wonderful; they are clearly not working. If he wants to come down to Tasmania and tell Tasmanians that they are doing a great job on health, I don't think too many Tasmanians are going to believe it. The health system in Tasmania is in crisis. To have the member for Bass come in here, in her first motion, to talk about how great the government's tax cuts are I find really disappointing. And the people of Bass have a right to know that, in their member's first private member's motion, her biggest issue was to say: 'How great is the government! We've got some tax cuts.'

Many Tasmanians would have been better off under Labor's fairer tax cuts, they would have been better off if the tax cuts were brought forward, and they would have been better off under the investments Labor would have made. That is the truth of it. The member for Bass can sit there and shake her head, but this is true. Labor offered a better plan for Tasmanians and we care more about Tasmanians than the current government does. The member for Bass comes in here and all she can talk about—for 3.5 minutes when she is supposed to deliver a five-minute speech—is how great the tax cuts are. She couldn't even talk for the whole five minutes. That is the member's first private member's contribution. I say to the member for Bass that she needs to get out of her office, get out of Canberra, and talk to the people in the street about how many Tasmanians are doing it tough. Far too many Tasmanians will miss out on theses tax cuts. She needs to be advocating for them in the federal parliament. She needs to be standing up and telling her government, 'We need to do more for those Tasmanians who are doing it tough on the pension, more for those Tasmanians who are living in housing crisis, more for those Tasmanians on Newstart and more for those Tasmanians who are working very hard but earn less than $40,000.' Too many Tasmanians are missing out today under this government.

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