Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We hear day after day from this government that the economy is strong and that everything is going very well, and that we should stop asking our difficult questions and stop being such Debbie Downers because everything is going well and everyone is very satisfied. We ask these difficult questions because we know that, on the ground, things are not going very well. In fact, there are more 'for lease' signs out in our high streets than since the GFC. The Courier Mail has today run a story with the headline, 'Nundah Village: it's the village of the damned as restaurants and cafes close down'. This is in my electorate of Lilley—and I don't know if you've seen Village of the Damned, but it doesn't end well!

This is the result of six years of smug complacency from this government—a government that has never focused on the demand side of the economy. Where workers face insecure work and have stagnant wages, of course they're not going to spend money in their local businesses. They need all of the money that they can get to stay afloat. This is a government that takes better care of banks than of people, and we see that and hear that day after day. The government should be creating local jobs by bringing forward local infrastructure projects like the one at Beams Road, which isn't scheduled to receive a cent until 2026. How humiliating for the member for Petrie!

In conclusion: I don't know why anyone goes to the effort of running for parliament to say what they can't do or what they shouldn't fight for. But we will fight for hardworking people, and we're going to get their backs. (Time expired)