Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I come from an area in Sydney that is undergoing rapid change. The south-west is experiencing unprecedented growth, and one welcome result of that growth is the increasing number of young families moving into my electorate. These people are optimists. They are often in their first home and starting a family. However, they're also the first to feel the effects of the increased cost of living that we're seeing now. They're the ones who most need tax relief, not the big end of town.

Locals in my area are struggling because of the Medicare freeze, where fewer doctors are able to sustain bulk-billing. They're struggling because of the massive price increases in electricity after Liberal governments, both federal and state, sold off infrastructure to private interests and because there has been a vacuum where energy policy should be. They are struggling because of childcare costs. They're struggling because of the lack of infrastructure, which sees them spending more time in their cars in traffic jams than with their children and not able to find parks at railway stations after 7 am.

Being in government is about choices, and I'm afraid that this government has not chosen the working and middle class in my electorate or Australia-wide. What they are saying to locals in my area is that they are happy with inequality and happy to see them continuing to struggle. Moreover, they seem to think that a person earning $200,000 is struggling just as much as someone who's earning $40,000. Apparently, in the bizarre world of this government, it is actually the families struggling the most in my area that should be doing more for the top 20 per cent of income earners. It simply isn't fair, but those opposite don't seem to understand that.

This is just the latest chapter in the story of this government's continuing attacks on the quality of life of locals in my area. They've chosen to give a tax cut to the big end of town, with $17 billion to the big banks rather than $17 billion to properly fund our schools. They have cut penalty rates, and now workers in retail, food and accommodation are set to lose up to $77 a week. They've stood by while private health insurance premiums have increased by $20 per week and childcare costs are up by $40 a week. The cost of seeing a GP is now at a record high, over $9 out of pocket for each visit.

These pressures mean that middle-income and lower-income earners have more financial pressures to contend with than ever before. Australian households have one of the biggest debt-to-income ratios in the developed world. They are struggling. These pressures will only continue to grow under this government's unfair plan. In my region it is difficult enough to physically access these essential services. Transport is scarce and driving is an increasingly costly necessity, with the New South Wales Liberal government's plan to extend the toll on the M5 for another 40 years. From what I have seen in the New South Wales budget today, it's going to take them 10 years to build the road that will access the airport.

How can young people in my area be expected to obtain their full potential if they can't access decent schools and universities? How can their families support them if parents are working and commuting for longer periods just in order to cover the essentials? It's the job of the government to ensure that support is there for everyone to have a decent quality of life no matter where they live. Moreover, we all have a responsibility to ensure that no aspect of a child's background is a decider of their potential. The Prime Minister and the Treasurer do not see this inequality. To them, it would appear that welfare is about the few and not the many, as they support a package that would deliver more inequality. On the other hand, they have the option of supporting bigger, better, fairer income taxes today—tax cuts that actually target those who need them most. Labor's plan would mean that those earning up to $125,000 a year would be better off when compared to the government's plan over the next four years.

Labor is ready to vote today for tax cuts for 10 million people from 1 July 2018. We're ready to work constructively to provide better tax relief for the Australians who need it most. What we're not prepared to support is the creation of a situation where someone on $40,000 pays the same tax rate as someone on $200,000. This is unfair, and this government should know better. I call on everyone opposite to show some real compassion for working- and middle-class Australians like those in my area, and to work with Labor today to deliver the tax relief they sorely need.

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