Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

What a speech from the senator opposite! She talked about the next Queensland election and the absolute hypocrisy of the fact that the LNP supposedly wants a majority government yet they've chosen to preference minor parties across the state. But I'll get to that a little later.

Last week we saw millions and millions of dollars taken out of local economies all across regional Queensland when JobKeeper and JobSeeker were cut in the communities that need it most. JobKeeper cuts in Leichhardt affected 7,179 businesses and 27,000 workers. That's equivalent to $24.3 million per fortnight coming out of the economy in Cairns and Leichhardt. The communities that need it most had the money and the support they need right now cut back by the Morrison government. In Leichhardt, when the JobSeeker cuts came in, $5.82 million was ripped out of the economy per fortnight. That's an extraordinary amount of money being cut by the LNP.

We know from experience that the LNP likes to make a lot of promises and announcements before elections, but they're not very good at following up on the delivery of those announcements. It is only after polling day in Queensland that Queenslanders actually find out what the LNP stands for and what nasty surprises they have waiting for them. Queenslanders will never, ever forget when Campbell Newman promised public servants that they had nothing to fear under an LNP government. Fast forward to three months after the election, and Campbell Newman unveiled plans to sack 20,000 workers. Twenty thousand workers lost their jobs under the LNP after Campbell Newman promised them that they had nothing to fear. The axe finally fell on 14,000 workers. Guess who Campbell Newman's apprentice and Assistant Treasurer was. Who was the Assistant Treasurer when 14,000 public servants were sacked in Queensland? It was none other than Deb Frecklington. She was right there next to him, making every single decision, sending 14,000 public servants on their way home. She sacked them. She made sure that 14,000 people in Queensland wouldn't be able to provide for their families.