Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Cyber Security and Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Once again Canberrans were bracing themselves for last night's budget, and once again they were kicked in the guts by the Turnbull government. Once again they've been attacked and insulted by yet another budget dominated by cuts to the Public Service, next to no investment in infrastructure, and complete and utter contempt for our nation's capital. There are more cuts to the Public Service. Last year we lost 2,000 jobs. This year it's 3,500. There are more cuts to our national institutions. Last year the attack was on the Australian War Memorial and the National Archives. This year the National Archives has again lost more staff, and the National Library has also lost staff. We've got cuts to education, to hospitals, to TAFE and to the energy supplement for pensioners.

But the disappointment doesn't stop there. Once again, there's been next to no investment in infrastructure in Canberra. Last year, the infrastructure investment here in Canberra and the ACT, the nation's capital, was 0.004 per cent of the national budget. Guess what it was this year: the princely sum of 0.2 per cent of the national infrastructure investment budget. Once again, Canberra has been kicked in the guts by the Turnbull government in this budget, and it is again under sustained attack. It is a complete— (Time expired)