Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I represent the electorate of Lalor in this place. It's a wonderful electorate. It has 250,000-plus people, mostly families, obviously working families. Less than one per cent of individuals in my electorate earn over $180,000 a year. I want to talk today about what this government has done for the people in the electorate of Lalor. Let's have a quick look at the list: they've cut funding to their schools, they've cut funding to the states to support our public hospitals, they've cut families' incomes through cuts to social services and they want older people in my community to work until they're 70.

What do the people of Lalor get from this government after all of these cuts? Ten bucks a week if they're lucky. That's going to get them to, what, change their mind and become wealthy overnight? This Prime Minister and the government across the aisle from me now, as I speak, expect the people in my electorate to accept a $10-a-week increase from a tax cut while government members give themselves $7,000 a year. I've always been a big fan of Peter Garrett, and I think Peter Garrett got it right; the rich are getting richer, and the people in my electorate are getting the picture.

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