Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This has been a very sad week for Queensland, and I am not just talking about the State of Origin. This week was the week that Queenslanders really saw how damaging the Campbell Newman led LNP government intend to be for our state. It is absolutely shameful what we have seen this week. They brought down their budget, and with it broke a whole stack of promises and showed that they really do not understand or care what our state needs now or in the future.

First of all, we are seeing the slug to power bills of something like 22 per cent on top of price rises that we have seen in the past thanks to investments in the electricity network, and we saw the broken promise of the government on rebates to help people with the cost of those electricity prices. We saw a pathetic announcement about the Bruce Highway, where the LNP were actually trying to take credit for the investment the federal government is making in the Bruce Highway. The LNP are trying to cover up their shameful neglect of that important infrastructure.

And most heartbreaking of all, we saw the Newman government refusing to invest properly in education. This is coming at a time when the federal government stands ready to make historic, unprecedented investments in education. We are asking the Queensland government to show that they care about the students of Queensland, to care about the kids of Queensland, and match that investment. Come on board, sign the agreement for Gonski funding and let us have fairness and equity in our education funding. (Time expired)