Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Services, Territories and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For years there has only been one member for Banks in this House. But now there are 76 of them! There they are, all over there: 76 members for banks—big banks!

These are the members who, today, are arguing that $17 billion worth of tax cuts should go to the disgraced and ashamed big banks instead of to schools, which have had $17 billion cut from their funds. There are 115 temporary dismountable classrooms at public schools in my electorate. Schools are busting at the seams, but the coalition seems to think that the money is better spent on bonuses for big banks than on the schools and on teachers for those schools.

It is no surprise that the shortest line in the building is the line of MPs who want to invite the aged-care minister into their electorate. While there are 105,000 people on an aged-care waiting list, this minister has given a measly 3½ thousand new places each year to try to deal with this. In four years time there will be over 110,000 people waiting for aged care, and these guys have turned their backs on them. If they won't stand up for schoolkids and they won't stand up for the elderly, who will they stand up for?