Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is much to be proud of in my community—the colour, the vibrancy, the diversity. After all, it is the most multicultural community in the country but, regrettably, it also has significant pockets of disadvantage.

In my community, there are 17,000 families receiving family tax benefit A. How do you think they are feeling waking up to the notion that this government is going to introduce cuts to family tax benefits that will impact on them and their families?

The average income in my community is a tad over $50,000. They are not rich people. They are not after handouts but they want a hand-up. We are now having a debate in this House about what is likely to be in and out of an expanded goods and services tax.

Extending the tax to fresh food, health and education is going to have a huge and deleterious effect on the people I represent. For that matter, I think most of those electorates represented by people on the other side are also going to be impacted by this. None of them are going to stand up today and talk about increases in the GST and what it means for them, because they intuitively know that the people they represent—as well as the people on this side—are going to be adversely affected by these changes.