Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It has been just over a year since literally millions of Australians and nearly 100,000 in my electorate of Hotham went to the ballot box and made a decision, as is their democratic right, on who should form government in this country—and they did so based on a number of promises that were made. We heard so clearly throughout the campaign that there would be no changes to pensions, that there would be no cuts to health and that there would be no changes to education funding in Australia. Then right on the night before the election, we had the Prime Minister go on SBS and say in crystal clear language that there would be no cuts to the ABC and the SBS. Over the last year, we have watched each of those pillars of trust being cast aside by this Prime Minister and this government. I have to say that the feeling out in the electorate at the moment is that this promise about the ABC and the SBS is the straw that broke the camel's back. The man who is leading this country cannot be trusted. Nothing that comes out of his mouth can be relied upon by the Australian people.

We know in this chamber that the ABC and the SBS provide very important services, and we have heard a little bit about that today—regional and rural content, the important role that the SBS and the ABC play in delivering emergency services and children's programming—all of these things. But even if you do not think these are important services, the breach of trust at the heart of this unbelievable. Not only are the government lying; but they are lying about lying—and that is what is so disappointing. Front up, prove to the Australian people that you have got some integrity and at least be honest about these cuts. (Time expired)

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