Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

Those opposite may 'ooh', but it's not funny, and it's not funny because we're talking about the lives of real people not only in my community but in yours. Yes, these are hundreds of thousands of hardworking taxpaying people, people who are a critical part of our community, people who are a critical part of our economy, and many of them live in my community, which is the most multicultural electorate in all of Queensland. They are doctors, nurses, aged-care workers, childcare educators, builders, teachers and volunteers. They are our family, our friends and our neighbours.

These are the people who've chosen to build their lives and families here. Their contribution is real, and it's felt every day in the services and support Australians rely on. But that doesn't matter to the Leader of the Opposition. In his budget reply speech, he stated that a coalition government will cut off permanent residents' access to the NDIS and 17 other different programs. The list includes the aged pension and the disability support pension. Under his plan, carer and parenting payments, family tax benefits, Austudy and seniors and low-income healthcare cards would be cut. The Leader of the Opposition said: 'If you're not an Australian citizen then you do not get the privileges of an Australian citizen. When you commit to this country, we'll commit to you.'

As those opposite 'ooh' and 'aah' and as they make claims across this chamber, I've got a challenge for them. That challenge is to go back to your communities, to your constituencies, and look these community members in the eye and tell them what you will cut. Because the words here are big and brash, but when you get back home, these are people who are our friends. These are people who are our family. These are people who make up our community. So when you get home, you tell the person with a disability who's been paying taxes and working in health care that no longer under a coalition government—

An opposition member: I'll tell them it's grandfathered.

You can tell that elderly person when you get back that no longer will they, as a senior, get those concessions. That is a slap in the face of all permanent residents working hard, paying the same taxes as everyone else.

Let's be clear about what this really is. Let's be clear, mate, because it's about scapegoating migrant communities.

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