Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Across kitchen tables in Australia last night, families asked themselves the question: 'What will we go without?' With the cuts to the FTB supplements, 1.5 million families will go without $726 per child, and 1.3 million families will go without an annual supplement of $354 per family, if this government gets its way. In my electorate, that translates to 21,000 families losing $726 per child, and 18,500 families losing $354 per annum. The question at the kitchen table is: 'What will we go without? 'The question for this government is: 'Who will go without?' It is really simple. Will the multinationals go without, will the millionaires go without, or will the mums and dads of Australia's go without? That is the question this government needs to ask itself while it is busy having a conversation with itself about tax but it refuses to have a conversation with anyone else. At kitchen tables around this country and in my community, they are asking: 'What will we go without?' and then, 'What will we have to go without when a 15 per cent GST comes in?' This government needs to start thinking about who is going to go without.