Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Here we go again—another lecture from the party that racked up a trillion dollars worth of debt—that's 'trillion', with a t—and now they're clutching their pearls about higher spending. Those opposite want to accuse this government of being addicted to taxes and spending. Let's get one thing straight. Those opposite left Australians with a trillion dollars of debt with little to show for it. Those mugs? They were good. I'll stress this slowly for the benefit of those opposite, who clearly aren't great with numbers—a trillion is followed by 12 zeroes. That's nine and three, okay? If you can't count, don't lecture us about balancing it. They've doubled the debt, and now they've got the gall to complain about the interest bill they left behind. Come off it!

Let's not pretend the member for Fairfax is worried about average Australian taxpayers, because here's the truth. The coalition voted against tax cuts for every single taxpayer—every single one.

Labor is delivering a fairer tax system, where someone who is earning $50,000 gets double the tax cut they would have received under the coalition. But the member for Fairfax wanted someone who is on half a million dollars a year to pocket nine grand while someone on $60,000 got crumbs. That's not economic policy; it's trickle-down fantasy—out of touch, out of ideas—and the Australian people told you that at the election.

Let's talk about the man who was driving that clown car over there, Peter Dutton, the former Leader of the Opposition, the member for Dickson—yes, the bloke who thought the path back to government was through raising taxes for 14 million Australians. And what for? Not for health, not for schools but for a $300 billion nuclear fantasy. There was no business case, no rollout plan, no detail, just a vibe—and a very expensive one. And how did the voters of Dickson feel about that? They voted him out—the first opposition leader in Australian history to lose his seat. That's not just rejection; that is a total write-off of the clown car that the former member of the opposition was driving.

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