Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Assistant Treasurer. Will the Assistant Treasurer update the House on how the budget will help build a stronger, smarter and fairer nation for Australian families, and what would families have to look forward to under other approaches?

David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer ) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bass for his question. I had the pleasure of joining the member for Bass in his electorate in Launceston last week. It was a good opportunity to talk to some locals there about how our budget sets out a plan for Australia's future. With our government focusing in on jobs and growth, families have a lot to look forward to. They can look forward to a stronger economy with more investment in infrastructure. They can look forward to a fairer society with a fully funded National Disability Insurance Scheme. And of course they can look forward to a smarter country where we make the necessary investments to give every child the opportunity to get the education they deserve.

I take the opportunity to welcome the fact that the ACT today has signed up to a plan that will ensure that their schools will be funded so that they can become world class. I know that that has been welcomed by families all around the ACT today. That is what families have to look forward to under our government. But, of course, families would face a very different future if the Leader of the Opposition were to get elected. Don't believe me—listen to the member for Tangney. The member for Tangney is out there today and he spilt the beans. He said, 'If elected, an Abbott government would need to put in place austerity measures.' These are the sorts of failed policies that have driven economies in Europe into recession and they have driven millions of people onto unemployment queues. And that is the recipe of those opposite for Australia's future.

They have already given us a little bit of an indication of the hit list of policies that they have on their agenda that will slug families. They have told us about their $20 billion paid parental leave tax, which will drive up the cost of living for all Australians. They have told us about their cuts to retirement savings, how they will abandon the increase in the compulsory superannuation contributions. They have told us how they will jack up taxes on the lowest-paid workers when it comes to super. And they have also told us about how they will cut the Schoolkids Bonus.

But make no mistake about it, they will not stop there. We know that because they have already announced their secret commission of cuts. It will be a commission of cuts that will give them more and more ideas when it comes to how they can slug families with higher taxes and deeper cuts. First, we had the member for North Sydney out there saying, 'We have got to end this age of entitlement.' Then, we had the Leader of the Opposition out there saying, with his confected outrage, that this is an age of emergency.

We all know what we will get if they are elected—it will be an age of austerity, with cuts, cuts and more cuts. Labor stands for jobs and growth. The only thing you will get out of the Liberals is cuts to the bone.