Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question; I know of her deep concern for families in her electorate who are under cost-of-living pressures. I know too that she is working to get information out to members in her community about what assistance is available for people. As of yesterday, 3.2 million pensioners commenced to receive money into their bank accounts—single pensioners $250, pensioner couples $380. More assistance will be received from next March and that assistance will be received fortnightly and be ongoing. Families will also see increases in family payments flowing through to bank accounts.

On 1 July Australians will see a tax cut. Australians will see the benefit of a tax reduction for people earning less than $80,000 a year. They will see the tripling of the tax-free threshold. That means half a million Australians will move from paying tax to paying no tax. A million Australians will no longer be required to fill in a tax return at the end of the tax year. This assistance is being made available to families and we know on average that the price impacts flowing through to families are $9.90 per week, whereas on average the assistance is $10.10 a week.

These are the facts. These are the facts that the Leader of the Opposition does not want Australians to know. These are the facts that counter his scare campaign. He has claimed that price rises will be astronomical, that power bills will go up by 30 per cent, that major industries like coal and steel and cement will shut down, that towns like Whyalla will be wiped off the map. These false claims have been repeated time after time after time by the Leader of the Opposition. On 1 July and in the days following, these false claims, this destructive negativity, will be shown for what it is: part of a fear campaign aimed at Australians, part of the Leader of the Opposition's destructive and negative campaign. These claims will be shown to be demonstrably false; they have always been untrue. The first of July is coming and people will be able to judge for themselves.

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