Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

This bill increases the Medicare levy low-income thresholds for individuals and families, along with the dependent child and student components of the family threshold. Also, for single taxpayers who are eligible for the seniors and pensioners tax offset, they will not have a Medicare levy liability where they do not have an income tax liability. These movements are generally in line with increases in the consumer price index, although not in every case. Why that is remains something of a mystery. I hope that during the course of the debate the government might enlighten the House as to why it has chosen to increase some thresholds in line with inflation but not others.

It comes in a context of significant cuts to health. We have seen the $80 billion of cuts to health and education under this government. The shadow health minister has just spoken articulately about the state of health in this country under the Abbott government. Labor will support the bill. It represents a rare outbreak of decency, it must be said, from this government amidst an unfair budget. This is a budget which still continues so much of the unfairness of last year's budget, such as the $80 billion of cuts to schools and hospitals, $100,000 degrees and the cuts to family payments. All of those things are still there in this year's budget.

It is a budget which fails the coalition's own test of debt and deficit, with the deficit having been doubled over the course of the last year. It is a budget which fails the coalition test that Tony Abbott spoke of in August 2013, when he said:

… taxes will always be lower under a coalition government.

But this is a budget that has 17 new or increased taxes. In August 2013, the then Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, said that there would be no overall increase in the tax burden whatsoever. But the tax-to-GDP ratio in this year's budget is higher than in any year under Labor. It is a budget which too fails the—

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