Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Paul Keating famously reminded us that when we change the government the country changes too. Now, before the parliament rises for the winter break, is an appropriate time for all of us in this place to reflect on how our country has changed since September 2013. It has changed for the worse. Driven by the blind ideology of this Prime Minister, we are becoming less equal. Driven by the agenda of this government, we are becoming a less equal society.

We have record low wage growth. Unemployment is up and it is forecast to go higher. There is no plan for jobs. We have seen a sustained attack on the social compact. We have seen an attack on Medicare, that cornerstone of our society. We have seen desperate attempts to introduce a GP tax. We have seen cuts to the pension. We have seen an attack on education to confine the future of our young people, at early years through the broken promises of Gonski and with $100,000 degrees.

Most egregious of all is this government's attack on trust, on our collective capacity to solve the problems we face. The promises this Prime Minister made to the Australian people that have been broken will be a millstone around this government’s neck.