Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the last 18 months the people of Australia have grown used to the tactic of this government where they rob Peter to pay Paul. But in this budget we have seen the government robbing both Peter and Paul and probably Mary as well. We have seen the attacks on paid maternity leave. We have seen—

Mr Tudge interjecting—

Why is it whenever I talk about Peter, Paul and Mary we see Puff the Magic Dragon stand up and want to interject? We have seen cuts to paid maternity leave. We have seen cuts to family payments and over $2 billion worth of cuts to our health budget.

I just heard the member for Dobell talk about the problems of the ice epidemic in her electorate. Well, $20 million on an advertising campaign is fantastic, but I have got to say that, when you are cutting out $500 million from the flexible funds which are paying to put services on the ground to deal with the epidemic, the government has got its priorities wrong.

But, if ever there were a problem with these sneaky backdoor bandits, it is with the $8 GP tax by stealth. This is the situation where, between now and 2018, we are going to see an increase in co-payments. We are going to see, as the Australian Medical Association has told us, a drop off in bulk-billing payments. We are going to see co-payments introduced by stealth. This is the GP tax that the government knows and loves. The Public Health Association has called it a 'bloodbath', and we agree.

Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a watcher of romantic comedies, I can inform the House that the American movie Jerry Maguire will soon celebrate its 20th birthday. Who can forget Jerry Maguire, played by Tom Cruise, being fired by a junior subordinate? Who can forget that famous scene where one of Jerry's clients screams, 'Show me the money'? Well, 20 years on and you would think the Jerry Maguire storyline is repeating itself in this parliament. Tonight the Leader of the Opposition gets to show us the money. Will he support growth, create more local jobs and get the budget back into surplus, or will he revert to the Rudd-Gillard-Milne model of tax and spend? And Australians want to know, if he does not like our savings, what are his savings? How will he compensate for the $17 billion of government revenue measures he is blocking in the Senate? What about the $6.5 billion in savings that Labor themselves initiated but now block? Where will he find the tens of billions to pay for new spending promises like the $18 billion in aid that the member for Sydney has promised? How will he justify his desire to raid the hard-earned superannuation accounts of everyday Australians? When you tally it all up, Labor's spending is an ever-growing black hole of more than $52 billion. So, when the opposition leader stands up tonight to deliver his budget reply, the two key questions on every Australian's lips will be: 'What's your plan, Bill?' and 'Show me the money!'