Senator POLLEY (Tasmania) (17:21): As usual, we have senators from that side coming in here and wanting to rewrite history and talk about broken promises. But I'm not going to be dissuaded from making the contribution that I want to make in relation to the fact that the Liberals, with the Nationals, want to distract from the position that we have taken to give Australian workers a bigger tax cut than they would have had under the previous government. The position that they've taken, in a very short period of time since the Prime Minister made this announcement with our Treasurer, is quite indefensible and untenable. Let's not forget that their deputy leader, Ms Ley, said that they would roll it back, in government, making 11.5 million Australian workers pay more tax. Now, according to Mr Dutton, they will wave these changes through. But what does that really mean? I don't know whether everyone else has caught up with Nemesis, the great series on the ABC, but I think Nemesishas reminded everyone, including the Australian public, how much dishonesty, how much hatred there is within the caucus of those opposite. Opposition senators interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Fawcett ): Senator Polley, resume your seat. The coalition was heard in silence in accordance with standing order number 197. I ask that you extend the same courtesy to Senator Polley. Senator Polley, you have the call. Senator POLLEY: Thank you for that protection. No matter how much they try to interject, the reality is that the Australian people remember only too clearly the broken promises of Mr Abbott. They remember very clearly the failures of the Turnbull government. And let's talk about Mr Morrison's government, shall we? According to Nemesis—it's not just us saying this; even their our own colleagues are saying this—when Mr Morrison was Treasurer he used to leak all the tax policies to the media before even talking to his own cabinet colleagues, whereas in this circumstance the Prime Minister and the Treasurer went through due process, got the support of cabinet, got the support of the caucus of the Labor government. And we will never walk away— Senator Chandler interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Chandler, I have called you to order twice. Please comply with the standing orders. Senator POLLEY: We have been honest and upfront with the Australian people about this position that we've taken. It's a very different time economically than it was under the Morrison government when they introduced these tax arrangements. We made an assessment based on the best interest of the Australian people. We have a cost-of-living issue that is alive and well. We are doing things that are going to tangibly assist working Australians. And let's not forget, those people opposite do not appreciate that all Australians aspire to a better future for themselves. They're all aspirational, not just the top end of town. It appears to me that the only people you're really concerned about when it comes to the tax changes is the top end of town—concerned that people like ourselves are not going to get as much in the way of a tax cut. That is because it's in your DNA. That's because, when you were in government for a decade, you did nothing but keep Australian workers' wages down. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Polley, I remind you to address your remarks through the chair. Senator POLLEY: What I'm saying is that aspiration is not exclusively for people already doing well. We want every Australian to be able to get ahead. We want our nurses who are earning $73,000 a year to get a tax cut of $1,504 a year. That is $800 more than what they would have got under stage 3. I don't walk away from that. What I find just amazing is that, even with the fresh memories of this wonderful series that we've been watching called Nemesis, they have learnt nothing on that side of the chamber—nothing at all. They don't understand and relate to Australian workers. They obviously don't appreciate how difficult people are having it out there and how hard it is to make ends meet. They did nothing about the housing crisis, they did nothing about homelessness and they did nothing about improving Australian workers' wages, particularly in the service sector of aged care, early childhood education and disability. If it is so bad, if this tax policy is so bad, why are you going to support it? Why don't you stand up for once and do something that you actually believe in? If it is such bad policy and you don't want people to get this tax cut, then don't support it. You're doing it because you know in your heart of hearts that it is the right thing to do, which the Australian people can rely on us to do each and every day while we are in government. (Time expired)