Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Payments) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the Prime Minister confirm that, because of his budget, a single income family earning $65,000 with two children will be around $6,000 worse off? This includes a $1.2-billion cut to family tax benefit supplements found on page 200 of the budget papers. Why should Australian families have to pay for the Prime Minister's deceit?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members opposite think that government could just go on borrowing and borrowing to pay benefits but the country simply could not afford it.

Dr Chalmers interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Rankin, I remind, there is a general warning.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The spending spree of the Labor Party means that every single Australian—

Ms Owens interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind similarly the member for Parramatta.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

including the family that the shadow minister referred to in her question, is contributing to $1 billion a month—in dead money—in interest repayments on Labor's borrowing. This is the difficulty that eventually had to be tackled and it has been tackled by this government. This is a government which has had the decency and the honesty to face up to the debt and deficit disaster that we inherited from the former government, from members opposite.

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Payments) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order: relevance. I remind the Prime Minister that these are John Howard's family tax benefit supplements.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order. Resume your seat.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members opposite need to get real and they need to understand that we cannot and could not go on forever on borrowed money.

Dr Chalmers interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Rankin will remove himself under standing order 94(a).

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We simply could not go on under the policies of members opposite borrowing more and more every month because we were going deeper and deeper into deficit every month. This government has taken the tough decisions. We have made the hard decisions necessary to get the budget back under control and to bring the budget back into balance within four years. Someone had to do it. Members opposite have proven incapable of doing it. This government has done what this country needed to be done.

Notwithstanding all the changes that this government has made, we will continue to have a generous social security system. A sole parent with two dependents aged six to 13 years earning $60,000 a year in 2016-17 will get $8,348 from the taxpayer in social security benefits. So we are continuing to generously support the vulnerable families of this country. That is what the people expect of us, but we have got to do it in ways which are sustainable—and that was never going to happen under members opposite.