Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The stage 3 tax cuts are going to cost the budget bottom line $254 billion over the next decade; $254 billion is a lot of money. There is so much that this government could do with $254 million instead of pissing it into the wind with the stage 3 tax cuts. It can be hard to comprehend just how much $254 billion is, so I want to list some of the other things that the government could do with $254 billion instead of giving it in tax cuts to the ultrawealthy. For $88.7 billion we could raise the rate of JobSeeker to $88 a day, above the poverty line, and make a huge difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across the country—people like the amazing Mike and Liz from Wagga Wagga, who are struggling to raise a family on the inadequate income support rate. Do you know what they were able to do when JobSeeker was raised above the poverty line with the COVID supplement? They were able to get new pyjamas and new jumpers coming into winter. They got their car registered. They didn't have to borrow money. These are the sorts of absolutely basic things that, if you increase the rate of income support, make a massive difference to people's lives.

For $69 billion we could raise the rate of youth and student allowance above the poverty line and allow young people like Bella Mitchell-Sears, who was recently in touch with my office, to actually continue studying. She had to quit her university degree last year because the rate of student allowance did not allow her to live. She wanted to keep studying, but instead she had to quit and go out to find a job just in order to keep afloat. For $73 billion we could raise the rate of DSP so that people didn't have to decide whether to pay for their medications, pay to eat or pay the rent. For $90.8 billion we could make child care free for all parents and caregivers. $1.4 billion a year, a fraction of the stage 3 tax cuts, would mean that we could reinstate parenting payment single so that, when kids turn eight, people are still able to survive and keep their families together. $50 billion over the next 10 years would fund hundreds of thousands of affordable homes, actually clear the waiting lists of public housing and actually properly tackle the housing crisis. Yes, the things I've listed do add up to more than $254 billion, but if you add in the $368 billion for nuclear submarines you could actually fund all of this. There is absolutely no doubt— (Time expired)