Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

It's a matter of some pride to me, having heard that ball-tearingly good speech from Senator Steele-John, that I'm a colleague of his in this place, and also a good friend of his. He's been extremely articulate in placing the question before all senators tonight, and in explaining—very succinctly, and at times somewhat graphically—the nature of the capitulation of the Labor Party. I mean, can you see the light on the hill from here? No, me neither. Me neither. And there'd be Labor luminaries past and present rolling over in horror at what the Labor Party is doing at the moment. Make no mistake: these tax cuts take the axe to the progressive tax system in Australia.

Senator Gallagher interjecting—

And I'll take that interjection from Senator Gallagher saying: 'They're the government; we lost,' and that we should be focusing on the government. Actually, that's your job! You're the opposition! You're supposed to oppose and hold the government to account, not roll over in a craven attempt to drag your bloodied, beaten carcass over the line at the next election. It's your job. But you know what? We'll stand up proudly here today, and we are standing proudly here today, doing your job for you and fighting to defend the progressive nature of the tax system in this country, which was actually built by the Labor Party in times gone by—when there was still a flicker left in the light on the hill.

Senator Gallagher interjecting—

When the volume goes up, you know you're hitting some kind of a nerve in this place!

Make no mistake: these tax cuts, these three tranches of tax cuts, are not made up of free money. There is no magic pudding here. These are going to come at a cost, and let me tell you about some of the costs of these tax cuts. They come at the cost of having any hope of getting a decent raise in Newstart any time soon. They are going to come at the opportunity cost of funding public hospitals, health care, public schools in our education system, disability support services, public transport—those public services that people expect their governments to deliver. This is not free money. There are horrendous costs to these tax cuts, and the people who need the support of public services to have any kind of a crack at a decent life in this country are being shafted well and truly today by the Liberal and National parties in here, by the Australian Labor Party in here, by Senator Bernardi, by Centre Alliance and by Senator Lambie. You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You're supporting tax cuts for the millionaires and the billionaires at the expense of people doing it tough on pensions and Newstart.

In my state of Tasmania, where the benefits of these tax cuts will be felt less than in any other state, this decision is a tragedy for our health system, our public school system, our transport systems and our public housing systems. This decision is worse for my state of Tasmania than it is for any other state in the country. We have two electorates, Braddon and Lyons, amongst the four electorates that will benefit the least from these tax cuts. Braddon benefits the second least out of any electorate in the country, and Lyons benefits fourth least out of any electorate in the country. What people in Braddon and Lyons need—and what people doing it tough right across this country need—is an increase in the minimum wage. What we need is an increase in Newstart. What we need is significant extra funding going into public education and into our public health system. Those are the costs of the decisions that people are making in this chamber today.

Well, the Greens are going to hold firm. We're going to vote no to these tax cuts because we are unashamedly a party for increasing the scope and the quality of public services in this country. In fact, we're not just unashamedly that party; we are proud to be that party. We're the only party left in this place that believes there should be significant increases to public services in this country.

I've heard all the arguments about some of these tax cuts being off in the never-never and after the next election, but, in the words of Paul Keating, one of the Labor luminaries, who I reckon to be pretty disappointed by this decision from the ALP, 'They are going to be L-A-W law.' That's what these tax cuts are going to be—L-A-W law. Can anyone in this place, even with the most fertile imagination, imagine the Labor Party taking tax increases to the next election? Ha! It's not going to happen. I'll tell you now: it's not going to happen.