Senator CAMERON (New South Wales) (16:23): This is a budget designed to do one thing, and that is to try to get this government back into power after the next election. It's got nothing much to do with good economics. As Senator Whish-Wilson has identified, it's a budget that simply works off the back of a global economic upturn. It's got nothing to do with any great economic expertise by this government, because they've proven they don't have it. We've heard so much about their plan. Well, look at the plans that this government have had over the last period of time—nearly five years—they've been in government. They had a plan which was about austerity: attacking pensioners, attacking the vulnerable and attacking the weakest in our community. It was about making sure that their mates got looked after. It was about trying to attack welfare recipients. That was their first attempt at a plan—an austerity budget. Do you remember Senator Cormann sitting there with a big, fat Havana cigar, celebrating cutting back on family tax benefits and every benefit that working-class people in this country had. That's what Senator Cormann did. He got out the bottle of wine and the big, fat Havana cigar and celebrated it. And what did the Prime Minister do? The Prime Minister went on radio and said he supported every aspect of the budget. We know what the coalition are really about—that is, attacking the poorest, attacking the underprivileged, attacking the weakest people in our country and looking after their big business mates. That was the first plan. The second plan was to make changes to the capital gains tax, and that plan, I think, lasted about one week. Then it was about giving the states taxing powers. I think that lasted a couple of days. So there are three plans that have come and gone, but the first plan is still there because that's what they really want to do—look after their big business mates and attack the vulnerable in our community. And this plan, trickle-down economics, doesn't work. The government have done this because the people that actually put the money into their election coffers at elections—the Business Council of Australia, the big banks, the finance corporations—are the ones who want this because they'll get $80 billion at least. And you saw Senator Cormann here today—absolutely incapable of telling us what the real cost of this will be over the 10-year period they talk about, running away from the cost that this will deliver. This is a government that have no economic credibility. They are still cutting the pension by $14 a fortnight, taking the energy supplement off pensioners in this country and giving an $80 billion handout to big business. Retirement at 70 is all right if you're sitting over on the other side as a senator, with your pants getting shiny-arsed. That's okay but, if you do what I did—work as a maintenance fitter in heavy engineering at Liddell power station—at 70 years old, you can't crawl into a confined space and work all day. You can't have a 14-pound hammer and be hanging off the end of that all day. They just don't get it. And the tax cuts— Senator Hume: I thought you were a board director of a super fund. Senator CAMERON: Here we've got Senator Hume interjecting—someone who has actually worked in the finance sector and would know much about the finance sector—and supporting the cuts to her mates in the finance sector. You know, it's all right for Senator Hume sitting here on $200,000 a year and ending up with a $6,600 tax cut. It's all right for Senator Hume to be interjecting and saying to ordinary workers, the working class in this country: you've got to stick with 550 bucks a year; by the way, we don't support you having any penalty rates; by the way, we would like to cut family tax benefits from you; by the way, when you're a pensioner, you'll work until you're 70; and, by the way, we really want to change indexation on your pension so that you lose $80 a week. That's what Senator Hume would like to do. She's now being challenged by the real right wing in Victoria because she is not right-wing enough. So it's all right for Senator Hume on $200,000 a year to come in here and defend an $80 billion tax cut to big business. We saw the performance from Senator Birmingham today. Senator Birmingham actually called me a liar three times, said I was a class warrior. Well, if standing up for the working class in this country makes me a class warrior, I will take that any day because I do want to look after working-class people in this country. And what Senator Birmingham has done—a failed education minister, cutting $17 billion out of schools—is cut another $270 million out of funding for the apprenticeship system in this country, on top of the $3 billion he cut out previously. This is a minister who has failed in his portfolio, who called me a liar three times and said no $270 million was being cut out. Let me take you back to the budget papers in 2017. The budget papers then were clear that there would be $1.5 billion for the Skilling Australians Fund. The budget papers this year say in Budget Paper 1, part 5-14: Another component of other taxes is the Skilling Australians Fund levy. So they recognise it is a tax that they're putting on. It continues: Since the 2017-18 MYEFO, Skilling Australians Fund levy receipts are forecast to be $465 million lower over the four years to 2021-22. This reflects the measure to expand the Levy refund and exemption provisions, delays in the passage of enabling legislation, as well as decreased demand for temporary work visas. This is a mob that wants to fund the apprenticeship system and the traineeship system in this country solely through the visa system. When they announced this 12 months ago, Labor said, 'This won't work, because there is no guaranteed funding through to deliver what's needed.' Now they've had to concede that. Now their fund is down and the fund will now be $1.2 billion. For Senator Birmingham's education, that is in 2018-19 Budget Paper No. 2 on page 90. It says: State and Territory governments will be offered a new agreement which is estimated to provide $1.2 billion over the four years to 30 June 2022. This budget cuts funding for apprenticeships. We asked how many apprentices would not be employed now because of these cuts—and remember this $270 million the government cut was supposed to be matched by the states. So it is $540 million out of apprenticeships. This is the mob that has destroyed the TAFE system. This is the mob that doesn't understand basic economics. This mob, this rabble of a government, has had so many plans. The Australian says, 'What a great plan this is.' Well, The Australian has said that after every budget this government has brought down, and this government has failed in every budget to deliver proper, reasonable approaches to working-class Australians. It is a disgrace. Its time is up. This is a decaying, dying government; the sooner it kicks the bucket, the better.