Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Skills) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] On Tuesday night, the Morrison government had an opportunity; they had an opportunity to build a better, more resilient, more equitable economy and society from the ashes of COVID, and they squibbed it. I asked my community of Cooper what they thought of the budget and, as usual, they did not hold back. So, in under a minute, here are the 10 worst things in the Morrison budget.

One, there is no plan for and no commitment to full employment—160,000 Australians are expected to lose their job between now and Christmas. Two, if anyone wants to know what happens when there aren't enough women sitting around the cabinet table, they should look at this budget. There's nothing new on fixing the gender pay gap, improving super balances or funding domestic and family violence services. Three, it punishes those looking for work. There are 27,000 Cooper residents depending on JobKeeper who will lose $300 a fortnight. Four, the government has cut Australia's refugee intake by 5,000 places a year and continues to leave so many people seeking asylum without an income. Five, there is nothing for residential aged care—the biggest policy failure during COVID, and not a cent put forward to fix it. Six, two big communities in Cooper will receive nothing: our artists and our uni workers. Seven, they're doubling the cost of going to university and there's no new money for TAFE. Eight, our kids' futures are still at risk, with no plan to tackle the climate emergency. Nine, there is nothing for social housing. Ten, no plan to make early— (Time expired)

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