MOTIONS

Ms CAMPBELL (Moreton) (19:06): Australians better watch out when the member for Cook and the coalition start using phrases like 'spending limits', because when they say things like 'spending limits' what they mean is 'cuts'. How do Australians know that? They know it because they have seen it before.

They know it because when the axe came down on health care, it hurt everyday Australians. They know it because when those opposite offshored manufacturing, Australians lost their jobs. They know it because when those opposite took the scissors out and chopped up education, people suffered.

When I look at the private members business today, what is clear is that I do agree that the opposition has a plan for Australians; that much is true. But when I look at the dot points that the member for Forrest has set out—(a), (b), (c)—I think they need a little bit of a revision. Point (a) is that part of the coalition's plan is to increase taxes for every Australian.

We know it because they voted tax cuts down again and again. Point (b) is that the coalition may pontificate on cutting spending, but what they really mean is that they are going to put to the chopping block the social services that Australians need—and they refuse to tell us what those cuts will be. And to point (c), we know that they are hell-bent on ripping up the general compact for retirement that every Australian relies on in superannuation.

Their plan means that an aged-care worker looking after our parents and our grandparents will have to stump up more taxes. The coalition's plan means that money will be ripped out of health care again. And the coalition's plan means pinching a boilermaker's superannuation, reducing it by tens of thousands of dollars when it counts, at the point of a dignified retirement.

What is clear is that if you had to sum up the coalition's plan, it is a plan for higher taxes, it is a plan for lower wages and it is a plan for bigger deficits and more debt. Let's talk about Labor's responsible economic management in contrast to what we have seen and heard from the coalition. The budget is nearly $45 billion stronger than the mid-year update and more than a quarter-of-a-trillion better than we inherited in 2022.

There are $64 billion of savings in this budget—more than any other on record. Debt has decreased from the mid-year update, and last year was almost $200 billion lower than the trajectory we inherited. It will peak at 35.8 per cent of GDP—9.1 percentage points below the peak that we inherited from the coalition.

This responsible budget management has enabled Labor to cut taxes five times in three different ways, putting nearly $3,000 a year into the pockets of the average worker by 2028; it supports 75,000 more Australians into that elusive housing market; and it delivers over $3.8 billion in new measures that lower taxes for businesses and for start-ups. So let's call this motion out for what it is: a dishonest one and one that fails to recognise the actions and track record of a coalition who for years have only sought to cut, who for years have only sought to vote down tax cuts for everyday Australians, and who for years have failed to live up to the expectations of what working people deserve, which is someone in their corner.

It is a continuation of coalition strategy to talk down our economy and attempt to divide our community, to distract from the fact that they voted for higher taxes on workers and promised bigger deficits and more debt while cutting what matters to people the most: health and education. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Dr Haines ): The time allotted for this debate has expired.

The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.