Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Kemp, representing the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Can the minister confirm that under the budget’s tax and family payment changes announced last night single parents with one or two children will receive no extra benefit at all from those changes? Given that the tax cuts to high-income earners and others are deemed to be affordable, why has there been no assistance whatsoever to those raising children on income support? What is the logic or the rationale of denying any extra assistance to the poorest families in our community who are struggling to raise children on income support? Why have the two million people who rely entirely on income support—the single parents and the disability pensioners—been totally forgotten in the measures contained in this budget?