Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Well, hear, hear, to the member for Kingsford Smith! I too rise today to oppose the member for Goldstein's misleading and erroneous motion. In his motion, the member for Goldstein somehow seems to forget his own government's abysmal economic track record. This is a government that has somehow managed to cut essential service after essential service while simultaneously forcing our nation's debt to a record high. Just last month, Australia's gross debt level surpassed half a trillion dollars—almost doubling what it was when the Liberals first took office.

And things aren't getting any better for average Australians; in fact, many people in my community are feeling a lot worse. I note that the member for Goldstein wants the government to live within its means. While even failing at that, these words also recognise his narrow view of the Australian economy. While ensuring that the government lives within its means is important, it is vital to ensure that working people have the means by which to live. Short-sighted measures by this government—like slashing penalty rates of thousands of Australians—do nothing but make things worse for people and the economy at large.

Despite having countless self-proclaimed would-be leaders amongst its ranks, this government has yet to show one shred of leadership in any of its five years. Contrary to the member for Goldstein's implication, this government has never had a true plan—as his motion states—'to support Australians in getting off welfare and into work'. This government has done nothing but demonise vulnerable groups in our society. The LNP has had five years to get its act together, but we are still waiting.

But Labor is showing leadership. Even from opposition, Labor is doing the hard work. Labor members all around Australia have been consulting with their communities, with workers, with those who are seeking to find work and with those who have since retired from work. We have been consulting with businesses, community groups and those groups that are holding up parts of our community that need a hand and picking up the pieces when things go wrong. We are supporting and consulting with those who are studying, and we are consulting with families.

We've been listening and we've been able to use what we've heard to identify what it is that Australians really want, and that is fairness. That's what it boils down to. What Australians want is a fair go. They're sick of a government protecting the big end of town, millionaires, multinationals and big banks. They want a government that will stand up for fairness for regular Australians. A Shorten Labor government will achieve just that by demonstrating the leadership that Australia has been so sorely lacking for the last five years. We will do that with a fair-go action plan. This isn't one of those Liberal three-word slogans; this is a detailed suite of policies that will deliver a fair go to Australia.

The member for Goldstein's ridiculous assertion that Labor lacks a plan couldn't be further from the truth. We want our kids to be able to find work, so we're going to skill them up. We know that young Australians with a great education have a far better chance of finding work, so Labor is funding education from preschool all the way through to older Australians who are looking to retrain. While the Liberals have tried their hand at cutting vital funds from every sort of Australian, Labor is investing in schools, in universities and in TAFE. We're making sure that every Australian, regardless of where they live or what their bank balance is or what school they choose to go to, has the opportunity to get the qualifications which will help them land a decent job.

I think it's about time that ordinary Australians got a fair go; that Australians had a government that stood up for each and every one of them instead of just for the top end of town. I think it's about time that Australians had a compassionate government with vision. I think it's about time that they had a government that had a plan in mind, and a plan to get there. I think it's about time that Australia had a Shorten Labor government, whose fair-go action plan will bring back some of that much needed fairness for those who need it most. (Time expired)

See this speech in context