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

I represent the electorate of Lalor in this place. It's a wonderful electorate. It has 250,000-plus people, mostly families, obviously working families. Less than one per cent of individuals in my electorate earn over $180,000 a year. I want to talk today about what this government has done for the people in the electorate of Lalor. Let's have a quick look at the list: they've cut funding to their schools, they've cut funding to the states to support our public hospitals, they've cut families' incomes through cuts to social services and they want older people in my community to work until they're 70.

What do the people of Lalor get from this government after all of these cuts? Ten bucks a week if they're lucky. That's going to get them to, what, change their mind and become wealthy overnight? This Prime Minister and the government across the aisle from me now, as I speak, expect the people in my electorate to accept a $10-a-week increase from a tax cut while government members give themselves $7,000 a year. I've always been a big fan of Peter Garrett, and I think Peter Garrett got it right; the rich are getting richer, and the people in my electorate are getting the picture.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There used to be a time in this country when, if you worked hard, you could get ahead. I believed that, if I worked hard, I could make something of myself. For a long time, it was the Australian dream to work hard, aspire and give it one's all, but not everyone in this place believes in that. Labor doesn't believe in rewarding those people who work hard. Labor doesn't believe in Australians getting ahead. The Leader of the Opposition has been clear that he'll come after the new wealthy: those with incomes over $75,000. That's right, he's going to roll back the tax cuts—the same tax cuts that the Turnbull government delivered.

If you're a hardworking, experienced teacher, a school principal, a clinic nurse, health professional, a miner or a diesel fitter, you are seen as this country's next elite. He is coming after you. I take the case of a schoolteacher six years out of university. Just as that teacher is working hard to get ahead, at the time when they are starting to settle down, start a family and buy a home, Labor wants to come after their hard-earned wages. Make no mistake: the teacher would become part of Australia's new wealthy, the new elite—the Australians that the opposition leader hates so much. He's coming after you, just as he is going to come after Australian businesses and Australian companies.

In contrast, the coalition government says, 'Work hard, aim higher and aspire.' The government values hard work, and we're ensuring through our reforms that if you work hard you can get ahead. Every Labor member in this House voted against— (Time expired)