Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I was taken a bit by surprise—I thought Senator Leyonhjelm was just getting into his stride there. This budget has been described as a mishmash with no coherent strategy. I think that does describe a budget that tries to do a political fix for what was one of the worst budgets this country has ever seen: the first Abbott government budget. The first Abbott government budget, we should never forget, attacked pensioners, attacked the education system, attacked the health system and attacked working people in a way that we have never been attacked before, and this was done on the basis of ideology. We should never forget that this was about ideology. You only have to go back to the speech by the now Treasurer of this country called 'The end of the age of entitlement'. That speech was made on 17 April 2012, when the Treasurer was in opposition. He made it in London to a group of Thatcherite supporters who would have been clapping the house down with what he was saying. This is what he said:

I wish to thank my friends at the Institute of Economic Affairs for the opportunity to discuss an issue that has been the source of much debate in this forum for sometime….that is, the end of an era of popular universal entitlement.

You have heard Senator Leyonhjelm coming in here talking about how everyone must live within their means and talking about how the government should not spend any more money helping families in this country. I do not agree with that proposition, because I believe that all Australians think that we should help families put food on the table, help families be able to put their kids into decent school clothes and help families get them into a decent education, and if the kids get sick or the parents get sick they should have access to a decent health system. That is what taxation does. That is why everyone puts in: to help in a collective manner those that can least afford to help themselves.

The coalition do not agree with that fundamental proposition because their argument is that if you are not big enough and tough enough and strong enough to look after yourself or your family do not look after you then governments should get out of the way. Labor does not agree with that proposition because Labor understands that from time to time families can do it tough and need some support and from time to time individuals do it tough. For ordinary working class people in this country, it does not take very long, if you suffer a serious illness, not to be able to pay your mortgage, not to be able to put food on the table, and that is what the welfare system is about.