Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There is an old saying that 'a week is a long time in politics'. Well, surely for those opposite, 12 months has been an absolute eternity. This has been the worst 12 months of a commencing government since Federation. They have walked away from so many of the commitments they made in the lead-up to the election and they have broken so many of the promises they made to the Australian people—where do I start? The only thing I can say for sure is that, if the Australian people take note of what the government has done in the last 12 months, they will be finished—of that, there is absolutely no doubt. Health, education, pensions—work through the list. It is one thing to say circumstances have changed, it is one thing to say there are issues the government has to deal with, but the bottom line here is that, since the election, this government has gone out of its way to offend the Australian people and walk away from the things they committed to in the lead-up to the election.

Today we spoke about education and the circumstances around the commitments made at Pyne Online. To say 'All we're doing is deregulating, and that makes no difference' shows absolutely no understanding of the higher education sector—or, alternatively, it is a deliberate attempt to lie. That is what they have done—they have lied to the Australian people. The fact is that, when you deregulate fees, you will see a situation where fees increase—although there may be movement around, you will see fees going up. It is also very clear what has been said with respect to HECS. It is one thing to say 'Yes, you can still pay it,' it is one thing to say 'It's still a lower interest rate,' but it is another thing to admit that you said you would not change it but you did. And it is another thing to ensure that you understand the feelings and the circumstances of the students out there with respect to what they will be dealing with in the future.

Just the other day I was in a parliamentary committee meeting in the member for Reid's electorate. We met there with a large group of year 11 and year 12 students. They were asked what they thought was important—what the issues were that they cared about. Almost every single one of them put their hand up when asked the question, 'Are you concerned about the government's proposals around HECS? Are you concerned?' They all put their hands up. Frankly, they put their hands up because they have genuine concerns.

It is all right saying that you can put it on a loan to the never-never and that it is okay—you will not have to pay it back for a long time, and only then if you earn an awful lot of money. But the bottom line point is this: it will have an impact with respect to who goes to university and it will particularly have an impact on students from disadvantaged areas because they will react to the circumstances around their communities, their peers and their families in making a decision to try to earn some money now versus trying to earn a degree to earn more money later. That is an example of where this government just does not get it.

Then you go on to other areas like health—no cuts to health. There is $50 billion in health cut away from state budgets. It is all right to say, 'We're not cutting it. Oh, the states can put it back in. Of course they can.' That does not work; it does not work that way and they know that.

Then you go on to things like the way they have gone on about pensions and indexation, and the continual chant from the other side, 'Pensions will keep going up.' Again, if you understand the mathematics at all of the nature of the way pensions are actually adjusted and consumer price index versus male total average weekly earnings—the nature of the difference in the movement of those two indicators over a 10-year period—you know that if you proceed with this measure what you will have done effectively is to cut the pension payments to elderly Australians, to sick Australians and to disadvantaged Australians for years and years to come. This is by figures estimated, over time, of up to $80 a week and if the same sort of movement occurred in those indicators as did over the last four years it could be as much as $1,500.

The bottom line is this: there have been broken promises by this government—there has been a litany of them. It is a litany of broken promises and they will need to go out there and explain them a lot better than they have so far, because we all know that this budget has been a disaster with respect to the attempts that have been made to try to sell it. Frankly, they have a lot of work to do in the next two years to try to recover this first 12 months. So, whether it is education, whether it is health, whether it is university fees or whether it is promises about a million new jobs—and I do not know where they are coming from—the bottom line is that this government has a lot to answer for.

I will give one thing that the Prime Minister said that I think will be true—I will go along with him on this: on Tuesday 3 September last year he said:

I expect that people will be very harsh on a new government that doesn't keep its commitments.

Well, Prime Minister, I think you got that one right. (Time expired)

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