Budget Reply - Bill Shorten

Excerpt:

This is the Budget of a Prime Minister and a Government who want to tear down everything Australians have built together.

By contrast, Labor invests in our people to make our country stronger. Labor educates. Labor cares for all. Labor believes in an Australia writ large.

We believe that economic growth comes from extending opportunity. We believe in a prosperous Australia: prosperity for everyone who works and prosperity which works for everyone.

An Australia where your Medicare card – not your credit card – guarantees you access to quality healthcare. An Australia where the National Disability Insurance Scheme is a reality for people with disability, their carers and the people who love them – not a scapegoat for complaints about spending.

Labor believes that a teenager in a regional town should be studying in a great school – and have the choice of a university education, learning a trade or taking up a rewarding job.

We believe that science and innovation should be at the heart of national policy – because they are central to our prosperity.

We believe in an Australia where small business can grow and thrive. An Australia that still makes things. An Australia with quality infrastructure – including digital infrastructure.

An Australia where women are equal – and pays them equally. An Australia that is closing the gap and extending opportunities for the first Australians. Labor believes in an Australia that cares for its environment – and takes the science of climate change seriously.

An Australia where multiculturalism is celebrated as a social and economic asset – not treated as sport for bigots and ideologues.

An Australia that is a good global citizen, confident and engaged with the opportunities of the Asian Century. An Australia ready for the future, optimistic about the future and investing in the future.

This Prime Minister and this Treasurer, talk a lot about the freedom of the market, deregulating and liberating. Of course, you can get rid of fairness and leave people to fend for themselves. That is a kind of freedom.

Tonight I say to Australians there is another freedom.

There is the freedom of integrity and the freedom of respect. The freedom that gives every person dignity and the right to be treated equally. There is a freedom of compassion and respect that gives individuals the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

That is the freedom I believe in.

This Budget undermines that freedom. This Budget weakens it. This Budget tears at the living standards of our people. And in doing so, this Budget tears at the fabric of our country.

On Tuesday, the Treasurer quoted from Robert Menzies’ ‘Forgotten People’. But the Government forgot a lot of people on Budget night.

They are the Australians I speak on behalf of tonight, the Australians I am speaking to.

The Government forgot you in its Budget – and it forgot what makes our country great. It forgot opportunity. It forgot reward for effort. It forgot the fair go.

Well, Labor hasn’t forgotten.

We still believe in fairness. We still believe in an Australia that includes everyone, that helps everyone, that lets everyone be their best, that leaves no-one behind. This is the Australia that the Prime Minister has forgotten.

And it is the Australia that Labor will always fight for.

If you want an election, try us. If you think we are too weak – bring it on. But remember – it is not about you or I Prime Minister. It is about the future of our nation and the wellbeing of our people.