Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

This is a country that aspires to do great things. It says that every one of its people is entitled to a share in that aspiration. It is not a privilege; it is a right, and it is the Australian way. For more than a century we have defended a minimum wage, unemployment benefits, pensions for the aged and for invalids, child endowment and universal secular education. In my lifetime we have introduced the universal healthcare scheme and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. We are trendsetters for our neighbours. We are the envy of the Western and developed world. This government will not renounce our legacy and join a global race to the bottom. That stands in contrast to the approach that is taken by those opposite. It seems that the shadow Treasurer has made Asia, if not Greece, the inspiration for his social welfare under a Liberal future. It is easy to prescribe hard medicine if you do not have to taste it yourself. (Time expired)