Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to draw attention to the lies and backflips perpetrated by this Abbott Liberal government and the effect it is having on my home state of Tasmania. Their agenda is built on lies and broken promises. It is built on policies which are hurting low-income people, families, pensioners, students, job seekers and the homeless. If you are marginalised in Australia, you will suffer under the agenda of this cruel Abbott government.

The first Abbott-Hockey budget has gone down as one of the worst budgets in history, under the most dysfunctional government ever. Since taking office the Abbott government has launched an unrelenting attack on low- and middle-income Australians. No wonder the Australian people do not trust the Prime Minister to lead this country. Going into an election, promising one thing and then doing something completely different—this was meant to be an adult government. This was meant to be a government of no surprises. Instead we have been struck with people like 'Mr Fixer' and his program of national tertiary education destruction.

Those opposite may not know what it is like to live hand to mouth, but there are millions of Australians who do. The majority of Australians live hand to mouth and they are hurting. I know personally of the hardship of having to depend on a weekly paycheque, living from hand to mouth and what it is like to try to manage a budget reliant upon a disability pension. I have a better comprehension of what it means when the Abbott Liberal government makes these savage attacks on low- and middle-income families. People like me know what effect it is having when they change the indexation on pensioners. We know what effect it has on their daily living costs. We know what the effects are when you break your promise not to cut education.

Although the Higher Education Amendment Bill 2014 was voted down in the Senate last night, it is blatantly wrong that in the future, if this government gets its way, families will only be able to send their children to university if they can afford it, if their credit card is big enough. If this government had its way, students would be burdened with debt for the rest of their lives. It is all very well for the Liberal government to deny that there were going to be $100,000 degrees, but make no mistake: if they get their way and change the system, that is exactly what will happen. This government seems determined to Americanise our education system and to continue down that path.

Education is the gateway to a brighter future. Education should not be a debt burden for young people or for those trying to improve their status in the work environment. We should be investing more in education, not cutting it and making it harder for those who want to go to university and give themselves a brighter future. If the Liberal government really believed in educating and upskilling the workforce, they would not be cutting funding to the TAFE system in this country. In the last election Mr Abbott said that there would be no cuts to education and no cuts to TAFE, but what did they do? Already this government wants to cut $113 million from the budget of the University of Tasmania.

If we turn to health, now they want to introduce a tax to visit the doctor. Their agenda has always been to undermine Medicare and universal care in this country. Our country depends on the work that GPs do. This government should be putting more money into preventive health care, but no. What do they do? They energise the GPs in this country to mount a campaign—thus far successful—to stop any further introduction, although the government keep coming up with new ways, so stay tuned to that one.

I turn to pensioners. When the Liberal government stings pensioners and changes the pension indexation and increases the fuel tax, the Liberal government never considers what effect this will have on those on very limited income or the lower socioeconomic indicators within our communities. But it is interesting. If I recall, the Treasurer, Mr Hockey, said:

The poorest people either don't have cars or actually don't drive very far in many cases.

That statement alone demonstrates how out of touch this government is.

When we were in government, we actually gave pensioners in this country the biggest increase in the history of this country because we recognised they needed it. Do they need more? Is there more to be done? Of course there is. But those opposite have, as usual, slugged those who can least afford it. Under this government, the 'adult government', the government of chaos and the government of lies, we are now in a situation where we have to rely on people like Mr Abbott and 'Mr Fixer'—and where are they when older Australians are terrified of getting sick and not being able to afford to go to the doctor? That includes those who are self-funded retirees. These are also the families who—