Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Not this week, the member for Lalor rightly points out. But it shows the attitude and it shows the views of those opposite toward Australians who through no fault of their own found themselves out of work and found themselves in need of government support.

The coronavirus supplement during this pandemic has helped thousands and thousands of Australians. It has. It has been a great thing. For many people this was the first time in their lives where they weren't worried about whether or not they could buy food. They weren't worried about whether or not they could cover some of their rent. The thousands and thousands of Australians who through no fault of their own found themselves out of work were able to have some level of confidence and some level of support to be able to get through whatever this pandemic was throwing at Australians.

But then the government began the process that has led us here to today. They started crawling back and cutting the support. Except this pandemic is not over. This pandemic is still with us, and the government is cutting the pandemic support. In Victoria during stage 4 lockdown, we couldn't even have family over for dinner. Childcare services were only available for permitted workers. They were some of the hardest days in Victoria that I can remember, but Victorians pulled together. Victorians did the right thing. Victorians supported each other and achieved something truly remarkable. Instead of that—instead of supporting Victorians during our hour of need—the government pulled JobKeeper and JobSeeker support, and now they're doing it again, and this pandemic isn't over.

We face again a government that started this pandemic with an acknowledgement that, yes, we needed to support people to help Australia get through this pandemic, and now that all seems to be out the window. There were even some of us wondering if maybe the Prime Minister wasn't the ideological zealot we once thought he was. Maybe he had some understanding of what Australians are going through. But his instincts are clearly riding to the surface again, and he is clearly leading a government that is returning to the old Liberal way of pulling support away from Australians, of removing government assistance for people during hard times, making people go through unnecessary hardship and allowing Australians in this country to return to poverty. That is the legacy of this bill, that is the legacy of this government and that is the legacy of those MPs over there, none of whom are willing to stand up and put their name to the speaking roster on this bill. None of them are willing to stand up and say, 'Yes, I support making Australians only live on $40 a day.' Effectively, that is what this bill does, and it's not surprising that none of you are willing to put your name to it. This pandemic isn't over. This pandemic is still going to be with us for months ahead, and you on that side of the House are consigning Australians to living in poverty.

We on this side of the House understand the effect of this bill. We understand how important it is, and that's why we're standing up and saying, 'Don't do it.' You should be extending the payments and you should be making sure that Australians are not consigned to poverty. It is not too high a goal to aim for. It is not too much to ask. If you're not going to do that then at least stand up and tell us why.

See this speech in context