Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, get some rich parents and go find a good job. Of course, it is not that easy for many young people. Many parents and young people have come to me asking, 'But where are the jobs? Where does my young son or daughter go to get a job?' What we have seen from this government is reckless abandonment when it comes to job creation in this country and when it comes to the training of young people. Indeed, all the government wants to do is cut, cut, cut. Well, my message to this government is: there are a lot of people out there who are working hard who do not have rich parents and cannot just go and get a better job, and it is incumbent on us to support them.

Jobseekers often find it very difficult to get into the job market. One of the precursors to getting into the job market is training, but there are also things like having stable accommodation and actually having clothes that you can go to an interview in. These are some of the precursors to be able to get a job. By saying, 'We will cut you off for five weeks and you will not have an income,' could potentially start that young person on a spiral. They might not be able to afford rent, they might not be able to afford some clothes to wear to an interview and they might not be able to pay for the petrol or the bus ticket to get to that interview for a job. This government is ignoring all the research that talks about prevention and putting the building blocks in place to support young people to get a job. Instead, it is ripping that support out.

But it is not just young people, it is not just families and it is not just new mums; it is pensioners as well. In the 2014 budget we saw the most grievous attack on pensioners. I actually thought pensioners may be one group that the Liberal-National government would not touch. But no, no, no, no—they decided that they would go after pensioners as well. Firstly, we saw the potential cut of $80 a week. The Labor Party stood up against that cut and we were able to defeat it. Of course, they then brought in the unfair assets test. That is reverberating through my electorate. I have been inundated with people who have contacted me saying that they are finding it really difficult with these cuts and that they are left with a lot less disposable income. Pensioners are struggling out there, but, instead of recognising that, this government has included more cuts to the pension in this bill. Indeed, included in the cuts is a measure where a pensioner born overseas will have their rate of pension reduced if they are overseas for more than six weeks. This is unfairly punishing pensioners who choose to spend a period of time overseas to visit family or people they are connected to. In addition to that, the government wants to remove the pensioner education supplement and the education entry payments. These are small payments that go some way to supporting people on income support to start studying.

The government really are focused on attacking hardworking middle-income Australians, families and vulnerable Australians. At the same time as saying, 'The budget cannot afford these payments,' they are planning massive tax cuts to big business in this country. If we can afford $50 billion worth of tax cuts in this country, surely we can afford to support our most vulnerable but also to support middle-income families, who are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet. Surely we can find it in ourselves to support new mums and dads to have extra time off work instead of demonising them and labelling them as double dippers and rorters. Surely we can find it in our hearts to support young people trying to find a job. This is what a decent country does. It supports its middle-income and vulnerable citizens to make ends meet and have a go. The bill before us is a reheated version of the 2014 budget, which was squarely rejected by the Australian people.

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