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

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Cormann) to a question without notice asked by Senator Cameron today relating to indexation of fuel excise.

When will the lies stop? When will this government ever stop lying to the Australian public? This is a government that came to power based on lies. In November 2013 we had lie-athons from this government. It was lie after lie after lie. They barefacedly said that there would be no increases in tax. They said that there would be no cuts to health. They said that there would be no cuts to education. They said the pension would remain untouched. On and on it went. Yet what do we have? Every one of those positions has been turned around by this government.

Now we move on to petrol. Can you all remember the then Leader of the Opposition standing, pouring the petrol, in a western suburbs petrol station, bemoaning the price of petrol and blaming the then government for the price of petrol? Now all that has changed, and it is the Prime Minister putting a tax hike on petrol for ordinary Australians.

Senator Ian Macdonald is one of the longest serving senators in this chamber. He is a senator who I do not have much agreement with on too many issues. But on this issue of the petrol tax, Senator Macdonald, we are as one, because I agree with you, Senator Macdonald, that this tax is wrong and unfair. And I agree that this tax will increase the cost of living and it is bad for people in regional Australia. This is not the Labor Party that is saying these things. This is one of the most senior and experienced Liberal senators in this chamber.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Get on with something important!

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

No wonder Senator Macdonald wants to interject, because he knows that what he has said goes to the heart of the problems with this government.

It is not just about what Senator Macdonald says; it is about the issues that it splits wide open—No. 1: the opposition and division in this government. There is division in this government over the attacks on ordinary working Australians, and now some of them are beginning to realise that you just cannot assault ordinary Australians, day in and day out, without repercussions. I think Senator Macdonald is picking up on that point.

Senator Macdonald goes on to say that, rather than hike the petrol tax, the government should abandon the Paid Parental Leave scheme—the Paid Parental Leave scheme that is going to cost $5.5 billion and which will give benefits to some of the wealthiest people in this country.

What this government does is to lie to the Australian people—and now we have Senator Macdonald exposing the lies. We have Senator Macdonald joining with the Labor Party to expose the lies. We see the lies laid bare. So we see that this government cannot be trusted. It cannot be trusted on anything it says. It cannot be trusted whenever it makes a promise. It cannot be trusted when it comes and says anything in parliament because this is a government that has been brought to power based on lies, and it is a government that continues to lie. So the issues are about lies and the issues are about trust. It is a government that cannot be trusted. It is a government that lied its way to power, and it is a government that continues to lie—'untrustworthy' is the word. (Time expired)

Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is always a pleasure to follow Senator Cameron in a debate after question time. However, I got the sense that Senator Cameron's heart was not quite in it this afternoon. I got the sense that there was a touch of mock outrage, because I think back to the days when we were on the other side of the chamber, and I recall the days when he voted for higher fuel taxes. I recall the days when Senator Cameron voted for a carbon tax that was going to include transport fuels. I recall those days in the first debate over the CPRS. I recall those days when Labor breached its profound commitment to the Australian people and voted to impose a carbon tax at the behest of the fringe Greens in the corner of this chamber. So Senator Cameron did not quite have his heart in attacking the government over this today.

Just once, I am sure all my Liberal and National colleagues would enjoy coming to office and not having to fix a mess inherited from the Labor Party. Just once, we would like to come to office and find the pot of gold that Labor always seems to find upon arriving in office. Just once we would like to come to office and, rather than giving the electorate the truth—the bad news—about the mess that has been inherited and the sacrifices that will need to be made, we would like to have a little bit of money in the kitty to undertake a few new initiatives.

In my short period of being involved in politics, I saw the Kennett government elected in 1992 with the disaster that was bequeathed them by Victorian Labor run by Joan Kirner and John Cain, and the tragedy of very difficult budgets and funding cuts, and the decisions that had to be made by a government to put a state back on its feet and, quite frankly, avoid the state falling into bankruptcy.

I remember the Howard government coming to office in 1996 with an unsustainable deficit, and debt that had peaked at a high level—and, as I am sure someone on the other side will point out, technically a higher level than now, although not increasing as quickly as debt was under the former Labor Party. Then in comparison there was the Labor Party coming to office in 2007 with one of the best fiscal circumstances in the world—with tens of billions of dollars in the bank to cover superannuation liabilities mainly invented by former minister Clyde Cameron when he put so many public servants onto high salaries and into defined benefit superannuation schemes for which no money had been put aside. That was all put aside in the Future Fund. And tens of billions of dollars in surpluses were also put aside for investments in higher education and health. Yet the Labor Party came to office and blew all of that.

The Labor Party came to office and what do we have to show as a nation? We have Senator Conroy sitting in the chamber here with the NBN to nowhere that has cost billions of dollars but served so few people, and that froze investment in new estates all around our country so that people buying new houses were screaming out for services that people in older suburbs could take for granted.

Yet now we have the Labor Party coming in here and complaining about a measure that was announced in the budget—and a mechanism that was used by them in a particularly nasty tax grab on younger Australians to increase the alcohol tax on a particular type of drink, hidden behind the veil of a health measure, which we know did not achieve any of the health objectives it set out to achieve. It just wanted to target young Australians.

When we came to office this government was borrowing money to pay the interest bill accumulated in five budgets of the other side. The other side will say that we do not have that serious a debt problem in Australia, but we had the second fastest growth in debt in the developed world. If those opposite would like to stand and say that there is nothing wrong with our budget situation, the Australian people will judge them on that. Our budget situation is unsustainable in the mechanism that was inherited from those opposite, because when you add all the other liabilities the Commonwealth has, and when you add the liabilities of the state and local governments, the Australian taxpayer is nowhere near as safe and secure as those opposite might have you believe.

This measure is a small one that will cost the average household between 30 and 40 cents a week over the next four years. It will support the balancing of the budget and an investment program that will improve the quality of life and the productivity of the economy. The people will not buy the mock outrage of those opposite.

Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 22 August 2011, Mr Abbott spoke to the parliament about the need for governments to keep their pre-election commitments. On this matter he said:

It is an absolute principle of democracy that governments should not and must not say one thing before an election and do the opposite afterwards. Nothing could be more calculated to bring our democracy into disrepute and alienate the citizenry of Australia from their government …

Well, this is exactly what they did yesterday. They broke yet another promise to the Australian people and chipped away even further at the trust Australians have in our democracy. Despite the Prime Minister's pre-election promises that there would be no new taxes and no tax increases, the Abbott government yesterday announced that next month they are going to impose a new petrol tax on every motorist in the country. In an extraordinary act, this government is totally bypassing proper democratic processes and sneaking their nasty petrol tax in through the back door. Knowing that they would fail to get support, the government employed trickly tactics to bypass the parliament. It is entirely understandable that Australian Automobile Association chief executive Andrew McKellar has condemned the government's ploy as weak, sneaky, tricky and gutless. That is not me saying this. These are the words of the Australian Automobile Association chief executive.

The move to increase the petrol tax on the sly shows complete disregard for our parliament and for the Australian people, who took Mr Abbott at his word when he promised no new taxes and no tax increases. We heard from Senator Cameron a moment ago that even one of Mr Abbott's own senators, Senator Ian Macdonald, can see what a bad move is. Yesterday, he said, 'My opposition will not change, because I just think it is wrong and it is unfair.' He rightly pointed out that the government would be better off to get rid of their gold plated paid parental leave scheme rather than launching another cost-of-living attack on Australians, and particularly on the most vulnerable Australians.

They were unable to get support for their unfair petrol tax, so they have decided to launch a sneaky attack on the wallets of all motorists, of all families and of all businesses. This is bad. It is underhanded behaviour and it is a clear breach of trust. Nor can those opposite be trusted to put the interests of Australians first. The Labor Party will not support this attack on Australia's cost of living. The fuel tax is neither fair nor is it right.

We have worked with the government on a number of areas, but we will not be blackmailed or bullied by those opposite into supporting bad policy. That is exactly what this bill is—it is bad policy. It is a regressive tax and it will hit hardest the low-income Australians and those in regional areas.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They do not drive cars.

Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, they do not drive cars.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Hockey said that.

Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is right. Mr Hockey said they do not drive cars. I know a lot of people who live in regional Australia and are on low incomes and they do have to drive cars, because they have no other way to get around. This is the sort of thing, along with the rest of the stuff the government is introducing through their nasty budget, that will continue to hit those on low incomes, the poor, the elderly, the sick—the list goes on and on. These are the people who cannot afford to have this nasty, sneaky, tricky and gutless tax imposed on them.

Again, Senator Macdonald got it right. I do not very often agree with those on the opposite benches, but Senator Macdonald got it right when he said, 'Anything that increases the price of fuel and increases the cost of living is bad for people in regional Australia.' What is worse is the fact that the government is now saying that if they do not get their way in 12 months—that is, if they do not get it put through—they would be happy to hand it all back to their friends in the big oil companies. So don't worry about those on low incomes, don't worry about the people who are struggling: 'We will give it to the big oil companies.' (Time expired)

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was a very refreshing contribution from Senator Urquhart. Thank you, Senator Urquhart, because it is refreshing not to hear Senator Urquhart constantly complain about the issue of GST distribution and how bad it would be for Tasmania, not recognising of course that GST distribution is not just in Western Australia's interest, but it is in the national interest, and could in fact set free a state like Tasmania. It could allow the new Liberal government in Tasmania to prosper. GST distribution reform is a great thing. It is disappointing that Labor senators from Tasmania are slow to appreciate that point. But that is not what I am here to talk about.

I feel sorry for Bob Hawke. Once upon a time the Labor Party in this country had a tradition. It was rich in its economic reformist zeal. It took to the challenge of governing this country and it took to the challenge well. I do not mind admitting that, under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, Labor led economic reform in this country—and on many issues with the bipartisan support of the coalition we were able to drive ourselves to new reform and to new levels of economic prosperity.

Of course, that is now lost. Labor no longer has the will to govern. It no longer has the will to drive economic reform. We have heard a lot from Labor over the last 12 months or so and much of it can be categorised as a scare campaign. Let me give you two powerful examples of that: one of them is current to the debate we are having at the moment, but indulge me while I talk about the first one. The first one is the terrible, terrible idea of a Medicare co-payment in our country. The idea that people might have to pay $7—what a terrible idea it is!

But what they do not talk to you about is that it was Labor's idea—it was Bob Hawke's idea, back in 1991. You do not hear them talking about that. Let me quote—

Senator Lines interjecting—

No, I am on a path to talk about indexation. Senator Lines, hold your talk!

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, direct your comments to the chair and, Senator Lines, please cease interjecting.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy President. I will direct my comments through the chair. Let me read briefly from the House of Representatives Hansard of 20 August 1991. I am happy to say I was at school at the time. This is what Brian Howe, the Labor Deputy Prime Minister and health minister, in 1991, said about the need for a Medicare co-payment in our country, 'Reforms to ensure that Medicare remains a sustainable, equitable and efficient universal health insurance system are important.' These are the Labor health minister's words in 1991, under the leadership of Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke, advocating for a Medicare co-payment in our country. That is a fact.

That brings us to the second issue—one that we were debating today. Isn't it terrible that, as a result of the belligerence of Labor and others in this Senate in not allowing the government to work towards delivering a budget surplus, the government had to make changes to that budget? Yesterday we had Labor members and senators—and you heard them a few moments ago in this place—bemoaning the idea that a new tax was being introduced by this government. But what did they conceal? They concealed the fact that this tax, this fuel excise, was in fact brought in by the Hawke Labor government. Interestingly, in Senate debates you know you are hitting the mark when your opponents go quiet. Let me share with you what Mr Abbott said in the House of Representatives yesterday when talking about this alleged new tax. What did Mr Abbott say? This statement sums up the position perfectly—not surprisingly, as he is the leader, he is the Prime Minister—and exposes the Labor opposition. Mr Abbott said, 'It is not a new tax, it is an indexation of an old tax, a tax that was first introduced by the Hawke government.'

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

I rise to take note of answers to questions put to Senator Cormann around the fuel tax. Instead of publicly defending their objective, stating their case, fighting and arguing the objective to increase fuel tax in the parliament, the government took the sneaky, backdoor approach and used a customs tariff to increase fuel costs at the petrol bowser for all Australians. The Abbott government are so afraid to debate this mean new tax in the parliament that they just went behind the backs of every Australian to sneak this measure through the backdoor. And who could forget the classic clanger from Australia's Treasurer, Joe Hockey? Who could forget when he showed just how out of touch he is—and indeed, the whole of the Abbott government are—when he said, 'The poorest Australians do not have cars or, in many cases, actually do not drive very far.' Wrong! In fact, if any government members, including Mr Hockey, bothered to meet with low-income earners—the ones Mr Hockey said do not have cars or do not drive cars—they would find that they cannot actually afford to fill their cars with petrol. That is the truth. On their meagre budgets they put just enough fuel in their cars to get to and from work and to undertake other important or necessary family functions—just enough fuel to get by on. Now, through the Abbott government's sneaky move, these Australians will have extra pressure on their family budgets. The only person in the Abbott government who seems to understand that is Senator Macdonald, when he belled the cat, when he was brave enough to stand up and say, 'This is a mean tax; this will affect low-income earners.' Senator Macdonald is exactly right.

On top of all the other cruel increases the Abbott government want to heap on the poor and on low-income earners, there is now a new tax on fuel. What about the poor in the bush, who drive even further to get to work, to get to the doctor, to ferry kids around? Thanks to the Nationals, they will cop this new tax, too, and they will have to carry this extra burden in their household incomes. Mr Abbott can talk all he likes about this being a small increase. The more he does it, the more ordinary Australians know how out of touch he is because, when you are living on a benefit or a pension, or you are a low-paid early childhood educator, or you are a low-paid aged carer, every cent counts. Mr Abbott does not have to live on an hourly rate of around $20 per hour and he does not have to make a part-time wage stretch across his whole family. He is a Prime Minister with no idea about those who are less fortunate than himself. If he had any understanding at all, he would stop making these claims. Now this mean-spirited, out-of-touch Abbott government is talking up an increase in the GST, which, just like this fuel increase, will hit the poorest in our society the hardest. In people's next pay packet, they will be hit with this fuel increase, whether they like it or not.

Who could forget how the Liberal Party hatched their cunning plan to trick the Nationals earlier in the year—they trapped their junior partners—by pretending it was all about the diesel fuel debate? No, the plan has been on the table since then; it was always about the fuel increase. Instead of having the stomach to come in here and face the Labor Party opposition, they went out the back door because they know, just like Senator Macdonald knows, that this is a harsh measure. The fuel tax will hit every single Australian and it will hit those who Mr Hockey apparently thinks do not have cars or do not drive very far the hardest. They are an out-of-touch, mean-spirited government who will not now bring their measures into this parliament so that the Australian people can see the inconsistencies of this government—a government of broken promises and harsh measures. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.