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

I rise today to reflect on this arrogant and out-of-touch Abbott government; a government that is suddenly starting to preach fairness, but does not know the meaning of the word. Fairness is something that you have; it is intrinsic to your values. You cannot just say 'fairness', like those opposite do, and have it suddenly appear. Last year's budget was an outright attack on all Australians. It was a budget that hurt students, hurt pensioners, hurt low-income families and certainly hurt job seekers. Fundamentally, it was a budget that attacked the principle of fairness. Before the last election Mr Tony Abbott promised no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no changes to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS. He broke all of those promises. Tony Abbott promised to make things better, but by attacking fairness in this country he has made everything worse.

Last year's Abbott-Hockey budget was a disaster for the Australian people and for the Australian economy. It directly resulted in the cost of living going up. The budget and its broken promises hurt Australians to the tune of $6,000 a year. Further to this, unemployment has increased again—and this was to be a good government! I think the Prime Minister said in February that there was going to be a good government, that there was going to be an adult government. But it has failed to turn up.

The unemployment figure now stands at 6.2 per cent—and this is a government that promised it would be a government of jobs, jobs, jobs. In my home state of Tasmania it has failed dismally, because they have not created any jobs. In the last month, 2,900 Tasmanians have lost their jobs—that is 2,900 families that are without a person working in our community. That is 2,900 jobs that have gone, which has a direct impact on our communities—our small communities, our rural communities.

Youth unemployment also continues to rise under the Abbott government, which said it was going to create one million jobs. As I said, the good government has failed turn up to work. This government has failed to deliver thus far on anywhere near creating a million jobs. Mr Abbott, you are taking this country and the economy in the wrong direction. As you can imagine, business confidence is also in decline. Roy Morgan data shows business confidence is at its lowest level in almost four years. Mr Abbott, you are taking the Australian economy backwards. The Prime Minister should be focusing on creating jobs, not protecting his own. That is what tonight's budget is all about—it is about Mr Abbott and Mr Hockey trying to protect their own jobs. This government has learnt the wrong lessons from last year's budget. It has failed not because it was too exciting or too bold, but because it was fundamentally unfair. Labor called last budget for what it was from day one. We have fought this unfair budget every single day since the last budget, and we will fight this government on any future unfair measures. Australia cannot afford a budget that puts Tony Abbott's job ahead of Australians' having jobs. The Abbott government's dishonesty and incompetence is still hurting Australians. Despite promising Australian voters a stable, a mature and an adult government, this government has achieved the exact opposite.

The problem with the coalition government is that it brought down a budget which broke all of the promises it vowed to keep. It not only misled but also lied to the Australian people when it said that there would be no cuts to health spending. It misled and lied to the Australian people when it said that there would be no cuts to education spending and there would be no change to the pension. If the pension indexation change that they tried to put through this place was not a cut to the pension why has it now been shelved? What I think really has happened to that pension indexation change is that it has been put in the bottom drawer, as I like to refer to it, because you cannot trust this government when it comes to their election commitments and promises.

To go out on the eve of the last election, the day before people went to the polling booths and voted for this government, and say—as the Leader of the Opposition at that time, Mr Abbott, said—there would be no cuts to education, he knew exactly that he had misled the Australian community. On the eve of the election he said there would be no cuts to health, there would be no change to the pension and there would be no cuts to the ABC and the SBS. It is not just we on this side of the chamber who are saying that Mr Abbott broke his promises. It does not matter where you go in the community. If you go out into your own electorates and listen to the Australian people, they will tell you that they do not trust Mr Abbott and this government. They have used up all their political capital. There is no future in this government when it continues to lie to the Australian community. Australians deserve so much more.

And then we have the Treasurer of this country—and I cannot remember: is it Mr Morrison or is it Mr Hockey?