Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australian's living standards are going backwards, and it's no wonder when we are led by a back-to-the-future government. Recent ANU analysis shows that living standards are declining for the first time in a generation. Cost increases have outpaced income growth by 3.8 per cent since 2013 when this government came to power. Under the Turnbull government it now costs you more to see the GP, more for your private health insurance, more for your electricity bills and more for a house. This government is only interested in representing millionaires.

Under this Prime Minister, anyone earning up to $87,000 pays more income tax. There are more than two million Australians that will get a $300 tax hike under this government next year. Under the Turnbull government's plans to increase the Medicare levy, millionaires get a tax cut of $16,400, while someone earning $60,000 gets a $300 tax increase. Under the Abbott-Turnbull governments, costs are up 20 per cent for a visit to the doctor and up 25 per cent for a consultation with a specialist—all because of their unfair Medicare freeze. That is, of course, if you can get in to see a doctor. Right now, there are 12,000 people on waiting lists to see specialists and some are deferring because the costs are so high.

And then there is the absolute rort of private health insurance. Ten years ago only 8.6 per cent of health insurance policies contained exclusions. It's now 40 per cent. Families are paying an average of $1,000 more since the Abbott-Turnbull governments came to power. Whilst workers', families', veterans' and pensioners' health bills continue to rise, so do their electricity bills.

Instead of the Turnbull government delivering relief for the real Australians, they are giving big business a $65 billion tax cut. Big businesses and millionaires don't need relief. In 2014-15 there were 48 millionaires who paid no income tax in this country, not even the Medicare levy. In the same year, 678 corporations paid no tax. The richest one per cent of Australians own more wealth than the bottom 70 per cent of Australians combined. Profits are going up by 40 per cent, and wages are increasing by less than two per cent. Real wages have grown by 72 per cent for the top 10 per cent. In 1975, the top 10 per cent of earners earned twice as much as the bottom 10 per cent but by 2014 they earned nearly three times as much. If low-wage earners had enjoyed the same percentage gains as the highest paid, they would be $16,000 better off a year. When the facts are laid out plain and simple, it is pretty easy to see where the inequality is lying, and it is certainly not with the top end of town.

The Turnbull government is doing nothing to stop the inequality or the cost-of-living burden on workers, pensioners, veterans and families. The Turnbull government is so out of touch with workers, pensioners and families that they have no idea what it actually costs real Australians to simply survive. I wonder if anyone in the Turnbull cabinet can tell me the price of electricity bills in Townsville or the cost of a loaf of bread on Palm Island or how much the Townsville City Council is in debt because of our water crisis. I'm pretty sure the answer is no. But I'll tell you. Stuart is from Kirwan. His electricity bill for the last quarter was $960.77. A loaf of bread on Palm Island has been as high as $7. It cost the Townsville City Council $35,000 a day to pump water. So far, that has put our council more than $2.8 million in debt. There would not be one member of the government who would have known the burden of these costs, even though they have Senator 'Gold card' Ian Macdonald's office in Herbert.

While the Turnbull government prefer to be in their ivory towers in Sydney and Canberra, I'm out on the ground fighting for regional    Queenslanders. I know how hard it is for families to pay for their groceries when wages are stagnant, because I'm on the ground standing with workers, fighting for their wage increases and stopping the penalty rate cuts. I know how hard it is for pensioners to pay their electricity bills, and the effects of the Turnbull government's cut to the energy supplement, because I am on the ground meeting with pensioners and fighting for them, so they don't have to penny-pinch to pay their electricity bill. I'm on the ground fighting against the Turnbull government's $66 million outstanding bill to the Townsville Hospital and Health Service. I'm on the ground meeting with families and local organisations like the Upper Ross Community Centre about the detrimental impact of the Turnbull government's $14.8 million cuts to Herbert schools. Labor has always stood up for, fought for and delivered for the underdog. Only Labor has committed $100 million towards long-term water security infrastructure for Townsville, addressing our drought issues and jobs. (Time expired)

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