Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

So the Prime Minister is not listening and we have certainly not seen good government. We did not see it from September 2013; we are certainly not seeing it now. The Abbott government has no idea what good government is. We had all that talking up of the childcare package and what the government was going to do, and now we know that that package will come at a cost—robbing low-income families to help other families. The Abbott government somehow thinks it is fair to take $6,000 a year from some families to pay for its childcare package. Last year's budget favoured those who needed help the least and hurt those who could least afford it. It was bad for Australian households and bad for the Australian economy.

The Abbott government has continued to link spending measures that will be announced tonight to measures that were in last year's budget. The $6,000 cut to family payments remains even though it will not be in the budget papers tonight. What a dishonest, backdoor tax; what a dishonest, backdoor approach. This is what has been leaked. We hear tonight that the budget will be boring.

Senator Seselja interjecting—