James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last night we witnessed the great Australian deception. The backbone of our country, our farmers who produce what we eat and we wear, our resource miners who keep our economy running and our regional, rural and remote communities, along with middle Australia, were cast aside. In his budget address, the Treasurer did not even utter the following words: 'road'—no mention of roads in the budget; 'rail'—no mention of rail in the budget; 'dam'—no mention of dams in the budget; 'bridge'—no mention of bridges in the budget; 'agriculture'—no mention of agriculture in the budget. It didn't mention infrastructure, farming and mining. Those words—roads, rail, dams, bridges, agriculture, infrastructure, farming and mining—were not mentioned at all in last night's budget. So, if anything shows you the priorities of this Labor government, it was the lack of those words in that budget, because they do not understand how our economy works. They do not understand that unless you grow the economy, unless you support business, unless you support those who are willing to put their livelihoods on the line, then you will not grow the Australian economy and you will not take an axe to inflation. Last night's budget showed Labor's priorities, but, more importantly, it showed their lack of priorities.

Australia needed a budget that reduces inflation and reins in spending to bring down the cost of living for all, but instead we got a typical Labor budget with high taxing and high spending. It's a budget that leaves all Australian families off by about $25,000 a year. Shame, Labor, shame.

Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a proud moment last night as a Labor senator watching the Treasurer hand down our second budget. It's truly a Labor budget, doing what we can for those who need it most and creating more opportunities for Australians. This budget is responsible, this budget is practical and this budget is sensible.

I'm really proud of our commitments to women's equality, with this budget ensuring women are front and centre with measures like cheaper child care, expanding flexible paid parental leave and investing in women's safety. As a Western Australian, I'm proud of what this budget is delivering for my home state. That is, $110.5 million for energy bill relief that will be matched by the McGowan government and cheaper medicines, allowing more than 620,000 Western Australians to buy two months' worth of medicines for the price of a single prescription.

Given that this is a commonsense budget, it's no surprise that the 'no-alition' on the other side are already opposing it. This morning I heard Senator Hughes relating comments that frame our budget as taking money from hard workers to give to lazy bludgers. This is absolutely disgusting language, and it's really disappointing that those opposite are airing comments that characterise vulnerable Australians in such a demeaning way. This budget has struck the right balance of providing relief for the most vulnerable Australians, and I want to say to those opposite: single mothers are not bludgers, pensioners are not bludgers, students investing in their futures are not bludgers. Those opposite are always quick to turn their backs on the most vulnerable, but the Albanese government is committed to a better future and making sure no-one is left behind.