Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thought that there were going to be 26 billion reasons why this budget was unfair, but then during question time that blew out to 36.5, 35.6 and then ended up at 65.4 billion reasons why this budget was unfair. I guess we are glad that question time ended, because that spendometer was about to blow up because it just kept rolling along. Then I thought to myself, where has this term 'fairness' come from? Where is this lightbulb on the road to Point Piper conversion? Then the member for Rankin drew to my attention a wonderful article in TheDaily Telegraph.

Did they sit around at the harbour and did they sit around on the yachts, thinking, 'I think we need to be a little fairer?' No, they did not. They wrote a cheque to Crosby Textor for $200,000 and said, 'You need to tell us what we need to put in the budget.' In TheDaily Telegraph on 8 April all was revealed.

The Daily Telegraph has learned the Liberal Party commissioned research firm Crosby Textor to help Mr Morrison formulate his second Budget, at a cost of—

a lazy $200,000—a round of drinks for those opposite.

Mr Morrison drew on the research to help him convince Mr Turnbull of the likely public support—

wait for it—

for meaningful changes to housing affordability in the Budget.

…   …   …

The research indicated that Australians were focused on future job growth for their children and were concerned their wages growth appeared to be flat …

This is a government that does not walk in the same shopping centres that we do. They do not go to the same pubs and clubs. They do not hang out at the same coffee shops and talk to the real workers in the community—the 'shoppos' out there. What they do is pay a cheque for $200,000 from the donors, from the member for Mackellar, who is in the chamber, and then turn around and say: 'Fairness? What is this term "fairness" that you talk about? Where are we? Where art thou, great term of "fairness"? We must put it in the budget!' That is the definition of 'fairness'.

Those members of the government who are sitting here today think giving a millionaire a tax cut of $16,400 is fair—that is what they think—while someone who lives in Redbank Plains, in my electorate, earning $65,000 will be hit with a tax hike of $325. Families in Forest Lake will be part of the 100,000 families who will be worse off thanks to your cuts in family tax benefits. A pensioner living in Springfield Lakes will now have to pay $355 more per year. Millionaires living on the north shore in Point Piper, near the ocean, will then get a huge, huge tax cut, but those living in my electorate can slug it through the nose. That is your definition of it. Get up and defend that. Stop the carry-on about what Labor did in government and defend your own pathetic budget.

We know that under this government more Australians will pay the highest amount of tax in our Commonwealth's history. We know that under this government record net debt will peak over the next three years—gross debt equivalent to $20,000 for every man, woman and child in Australia. Compared to last year's budget, GDP growth is down, employment is down, wages growth is down and, as we heard from the shadow finance minister, 100,000 jobs have gone under your watch. Do not lecture anyone about your economic credentials. Do not get up in this chamber and talk about fairness in any way, shape or form.

We know about the Queensland context. I listened to the member for Brisbane, waiting with bated breath for him to talk about infrastructure, of course. Like those opposite he remained completely silent when it came to Cross River Rail, which would benefit his own constituents. There was not one dollar allocated whatsoever. They are not interested at all. They are not interested in allocating funds. They are not interested in public transport. He is not interested in helping his residents. He is only interested in one thing: defending the millionaires in Australia and the multinationals, time and time again. When it comes to this government and when it comes to the member for Brisbane, the member for Robertson, the member for Mackellar and the member for Moore, we know that millionaires and multinationals come first, second and third. Medicare, schools and working families are always last. That is what you support. Just have the guts to get up and actually defend what you are doing to the Australian community. We know Labor is the party of fairness. We know Labor was built on fairness, and tonight you need to take a good lesson from Bill Shorten and Labor to hear what fairness is all about. (Time expired)

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