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

My question is to the Prime Minister. How is Albanese Labor government helping Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn? What have been impediments to this, and why is it important that members promote responsible policy?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The legislation that passed in this House today is about people earning more, but also about them keeping more of what they earn. That is important. It's a tax cut for every single Australian taxpayer. Those opposite, of course, said a range of things about it before they voted for it. They said that it was an egregious error, trickery and Marxist economics, and it would crush confidence, undermine the strength of the economy and obliterate opportunity.

They said all that before they voted for it. But it's not the first lot of catastrophising we've seen. Remember on foot-and-mouth disease, the Leader of the Opposition said that the border with Indonesia should be closed immediately otherwise we'd be overrun. That would have done enormous damage to our relationship with Indonesia as well as to the cattle industry. The shadow minister said that the safeguard mechanism would lead to deindustrialisation and decapitate the economy. The Leader of the Opposition said of the methane pledge that farmers would have a mass cow cull that would send our country broke. With the IR legislation, the Leader of the Opposition said that it would revive the crippling economy-wide strikes, but Senator Cash went further. She said that it would lead Australia to the Dark Ages, and the economy would close down. Then there was the energy price relief plan. It was 'reckless, 'destructive', 'communism', 'a Soviet-style policy', 'catastrophic', 'one step short of nationalisation' and 'gas market Armageddon'. That was before it worked. On refugees, the then shadow minister, who's now up the back, said that it would lead to an armada of refugee boats on their way. Search out there for that. And on aged care today, we had the only political party that's been talking about a change to the family home, when they know that there is no change to the treatment of the family home in any of the documents that are before the government. None! This Leader of the Opposition projects all the time. But Malcolm Turnbull summed him up in just one syllable, and he got it right.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister's time has concluded.

An opposition member interjecting

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't need people to move my amendments that are in my name, sunshine. I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper. I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.