Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is in the biggest recession in almost a century, and we need a plan for jobs. We have always been open minded about tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners, but we've expressed our concern with stage 3 tax cuts throughout. We need to see what is in the budget tonight, Tuesday, but the government doesn't need to choose between tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners and a permanent increase to JobSeeker, which is too low. The government should provide Australians who are out of work some certainty by announcing a permanent increase to JobSeeker in the budget tonight.