Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the 2014 budget didn't prove it, this budget proves that this is the most unfair government in Australia's history. Just think about it for a second. Workers on $40,000 are left behind, but if you earn $200,000 a year, you get a $11,640 tax cut per year. Just think about that. Politicians in this chamber will get an $11,000 tax cut, but the parliamentary cleaners will get $11 per week. That's a disgrace, and it's out of step with the Australian population. The typical Australian earns $45,000 a year, not $200,000 a year. This is an unfair budget that gives tax cuts to the top end of town.

What makes it worse is that there's a $1.6 billion cut to the NDIS hidden in this budget that delivers a surplus. Talk to my constituents who see their plans cut from the NDIS. They're waiting longer for services and they're getting less assistance from the NDIA. We have over 128,000 older Australians waiting for home care packages. We've still got $14 billion of cuts to schools, $3 billion of cuts to TAFE and apprenticeships, and cuts to Centrelink staff. The most important project in my region, the Glendale Transport Interchange, is still neglected after six years. We have got wages growth down, GDP growth down and consumption growth down. The Australian people will judge this government very harshly in a month's time, and deservedly so.