Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The impact of the Abbott government's recent budget will be felt in every part of the Australian community but its impact will be most significant in Melbourne's west. An estimated $6.3 million will be paid by the families of Gellibrand for the GP tax; an estimated $58.6 million will be ripped from hospitals in the west, including from Williamstown Hospital, Sunshine Hospital and the Western Hospital in Footscray. And almost 17,000 pensioners will be hit by the changes to the pension's indexation rate. But it is the personal stories that really shoot home this budget's cruelty.

Last week I received a letter from a constituent, Maree Kinniburgh. Maree is a full-time carer for her 23 year old daughter, Abby, who has suffered from life-threatening brain abnormalities since birth. While Abby's disability has made it difficult for her to do many things we take for granted, such as driving, socialising and living independently, she has not let her situation diminish her passion for life. Despite being told at a young age that she would never read and write, she persisted with her education. She is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts at Victoria University, in my electorate. Abby is an outstanding example of someone doing all that she can to better herself and improve her life and the lives of those around her. She is exactly the sort of person that the government ought to be helping to help herself.

However, Maree wrote to me, saying she is worried about the impact of the recent budget on her daughter's opportunities in life. She cites the $7 GP tax, the PBS co-payment and the freezing of Medicare rebate amounts as adding to the burden of the costs of her daughter's health care, changes that will disproportionately impact on women and other members of the community who may be forced to spend time out of the workforce. She highlights the rising higher education fees and interest for loan repayments that will add to her daughter's two higher education loans. Moreover, she points to the abolition of the Centrelink pensioner education supplement, of $62.40 per fortnight, that she and her daughter both receive to help with their studies. The abolition of this supplement by the Abbott government will cost Abby and her mother up to $1,600 a year each, or up to eight per cent of Maree's annual income. The impact of this upon the Kinniburgh family will be substantial. It will make life harder for a family already working hard to make the most from life.

My constituent feels that she is being dismissed by society at present as a bludger. She rails against this characterisation. She writes:

… we are both working very hard to make a contribution and not be a burden on society.

The recent budget makes us feel like we are viewed as pariahs sucking the life blood out of the system and preventing other Australians from accessing their rights and carrying us as a[n] undeserving burden.

It is a horrible position to be in through no fault of our own.

Instead of being rewarded for our extremely hard work, we are to be severely punished.

This is what Australia will look like as a result of the Abbott government's budget. It will be a place where it is harder for carers to pay the bills, harder for university students to study and harder for our disabled community to just survive.

I will continue to listen to the thousands of voices in my community, just like Abby's and Maree's. I oppose this unfair and shameful budget. (Time expired)