Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week we have seen a budget which really encapsulates what we already know about this government: it is a government that is bereft of ideas, it is a government that has given up and it is a government that has lost the plot. Every Australian—and particularly every resident of Forde—is poorer now than there were three years ago when this government came to power. This was the budget that they did not want. In true form, it is a budget for the next five weeks, not for the next five years or even the longer-term future of this country. It's all about short-termism and getting a government re-elected.

At a time when living standards have suffered the biggest collapse on record, Labor's budget has failed to deal with the economic challenges our country faces. Our constituents waited with bated breath to see how this government planned to meaningfully bring down the cost of living, and this budget failed to achieve that. You will have $5 more in your pocket, but some 15 months down the track. The government thinks that is something you should shout from the rooftops, that you'll be able to really splurge and treat yourself. But let's not forget, shall we, that your food has gone up some 13 per cent. Let's not dwell on the fact that your electricity has gone up 32 per cent or that insurance, rent, health and education expenses are all at all-time highs. Comparatively, tonight the coalition will outline our plan to get Australia back on track. We will put forward meaningful change—something we didn't see for any of my electorate. We were once again left out to dry by this Labor government. There is nothing for the electorate of Forde in this budget, and it demonstrates that this Labor government has no consideration for our people.

Labor has always taken the electorate of Forde for granted, whereas the LNP and the coalition over our time in government has delivered a wide range of projects for the electorate. We have seen a range of projects, such as the Chambers Flat Road upgrade—which, sadly, Logan City Council still hasn't built—the Mount Lindesay Highway upgrades on the M1 to exits 41, 49 and 54; upgrades to Beaudesert-Beenleigh Road to the M1, more generally; and funding for a range of local community projects, including headspace, an urgent care clinic and Logan Hospital. We have seen small business supported and our manufacturers supported through a range of initiatives. It is only under a coalition government that my electorate of Forde benefits, and that is why it's so important in this upcoming election that you vote LNP to get Australia and Forde back on track.