Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition said, 'This is absolutely our position.' There's this funny thing called 'TV' that captures that, so there you go! That is what the Deputy Leader of the Opposition believes, that our tax cuts should be rolled back for middle Australia—particularly for those in the regions, who would actually be left behind. She has nailed the opposition's colours to the mast and now regional Australians know that, deep down, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition—a so-called representative of regional Australia—doesn't think our regions deserve a better tax cut.

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition can stand up for whatever she wants, but on this side we're going to stand up for taxpayers in regional Australia. We're standing with the 76,000 taxpayers in Farrer who are getting an 87 per cent bigger tax cut under Labor. We're standing up for the nurse in Albury who is earning $73,000 and who will receive a tax cut of $1,504—$804 more than they would have received under the plan of those opposite. We're standing up for the Woolies worker in Tamworth who is earning $40,000 and who will receive a tax cut of $654, but zero under the plan of those opposite. These are the nurses, teachers, retail workers, casual workers, labourers, truckies, council workers and agricultural workers—the backbone of regional Australia—who those opposite like to pretend they care about. When the rubber really hits the road, they don't care about them at all!

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