Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

You on that side know all about pork-barrelling. You got a gold medal in it over the last few years. Your Jesuit friend would not be very impressed with you. You would have to do a few Hail Marys for that, Senator Bernardi.

There is no doubt that working families are under tremendous financial pressure with rising food and petrol costs. The cost of living index figures released yesterday show that CPI for the 2007-08 period was 4.5 per cent. That reinforces the need for what we are doing to help families find a better deal at the bowser, at the checkout and at the bank; reinforces the need for a strong surplus to give the Reserve Bank room to move; reinforces the need for the room that we are making in the budget for a $55 billion Working Families Support Package; reinforces the need for the $47 billion worth of personal income tax cuts over the next four years as part of that package; reinforces the need for an increase in the childcare tax rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent; reinforces the need for our new education tax refund; reinforces the need to remove a tax slug on the middle-income earner by increasing the Medicare levy surcharge thresholds; reinforces the need for the government’s responsible approach to addressing domestic inflation pressures made worse by global factors; and reinforces the need for our approach to helping families.

That is why the opposition should get out of the way and pass our budget. But the Liberal Party is intent on opposing key budget measures which will blow a $6.2 billion hole in that surplus we need. This is the height of economic irresponsibility: vandalising the budget at a time of heightened global uncertainty. No responsible economic manager would choose to increase uncertainty at home at a time when we face significant uncertainties abroad. No responsible economic manager would choose to vandalise the surplus, making it harder for the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates.

Those opposite stand for lower taxes for luxury cars—isn’t that wonderful? Rather than lower interest rates for working families doing it tough, they stand for big oil, rather than standing up for a better deal for motorists at the bowser. They stand for higher taxes, rather than standing up for relief through our changes to the Medicare levy surcharge threshold. They stand for a windfall tax gain for one company rather than the responsible economic management that the government is providing.

At a time of heightened global uncertainty, the country needs a strong surplus, not short-term political games—something that I thought you might not have been involved in, Senator Bernardi. I thought that you might have had a bit more credibility, what with you quoting Jesuits, and would not go down this path. But it seems that you have been seduced by the dark side to pursue this short-term, politically opportunistic tactic. We are providing economic leadership. We are providing strong leadership in uncertain times. That is why they turned to us last year. That is why they will continue to turn to Labor. We know how to run things when things get tough.

What happened to those opposite? Let me just show you how much working families thought of the coalition at the last election, particularly those in the outer Western Suburbs of Sydney. In Lindsay, there was a 9.7 per cent swing; in Werriwa, there was a 8.3 per cent swing; in Parramatta, there was a 7.71 per cent swing; in Macquarie, there was a 6.5 per cent swing; in Macarthur, there was a 10.43 per cent swing. The member for Macarthur lives in Mosman now—you might know that, Senator Boyce. Once in a while he commutes all the way across the Harbour Bridge and gets down to Macarthur to visit his constituents. Finally, in Greenway, there was a 6.85 per cent swing against the coalition. And why wouldn’t they? One of the things that John Howard got hoisted on was something that he said at that election just highlighted how out of touch that government was. You may well remember this, Acting Deputy President Bishop. He said, ‘Working families in Australia have never been better off.’ Do you remember that? He said that working families have never been better off.