Mrs ELLIOT (Richmond) (15:55): I rise to speak on this matter of public importance, to reconsider this unfair budget that will hurt Australian families into the future. I am pleased to be following the member for Moncrieff. As many people know, his seat is just up the road from mine on the Gold Coast—my seat is on the border of New South Wales—and so I am happy to present him with some facts now. I have been inundated with people from his electorate concerned about the impact of the budget. That is the reality and the facts that he should take on board about things like the education cuts, which are real. I can assure you that people from his electorate and those other electorates on the Gold Coast are very worried, so much so that many of them are coming to a rally I am holding next Thursday—and I will give you some more detail in relation to that later on. Locals in my electorate, and I think right throughout Australia, are really concerned about this budget of broken promises, its cruel cuts and unfair increases and its increases in the cost of living as well. People feel so betrayed by this government because, of course, before the election we had the Prime Minister and the Liberals and the Nationals running around, saying: no cuts to health, no cuts to education, no cuts to the pension, no cuts to family payments. And what have we seen since then? We have seen cuts to all of those areas that are devastating families. I speak to families every day that are so worried about the impact of the unfair and cruel cuts that they see. There are pensioners as well who are devastated and really worried. The facts are that this budget means that families pay more every time they go to the doctor, and every time they fill up the car they pay more. They feel betrayed. In areas like mine in regional Australia they feel betrayed by the National Party. One of the things that they really feel betrayed about is the National Party petrol tax—and we will get to that one of the moment. I mentioned before about the public rally I am having, Fighting for a Fair Go for the North Coast. It is on Thursday, 12 June at 10 o'clock at the Tweed Civic Centre. As I say, I have been inundated by people from seats over the border, like Moncrieff, that are very keen to come over and express how concerned they are about this unfair budget. Let us look at some of the facts surrounding this budget. We go to health first. There is a $50 billion cut to Australia's public hospitals. That will be devastating for hospitals right across the nation in providing necessary health services. As for the GP tax, that $7 GP tax is terrifying people, terrifying families— Mr Hutchinson interjecting— Ms Owens: Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, on a point of order, I would ask the member to withdraw that. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Hon. BC Scott ): The member has withdrawn. The member for Richmond has the call. Mrs ELLIOT: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. So we have the GP tax. It is absolutely devastating families and they are terrified of what that is going to mean if they have got a number of sick children and they have to see the GP and they have to get blood tests done as well. Elderly people as well are very worried. On top of that, the $50 billion cut to hospitals is going to have a huge impact upon those people. Another thing of course is the cuts to family payments, freezing the family tax benefits and cutting the family tax benefit B. Families are terrified in relation to what that is going to mean for the family budget. Mr Hutchinson interjecting— Mrs ELLIOT: But let us get to the petrol tax, the National Party petrol tax. You go out to regional Australia and tell them what you are doing. We heard a lot today in question time about the National Party being duped by the Liberal Party, which was really no surprise to anybody, but the fact is that at the end of the day you own this petrol tax. So you go out into the streets in regional and rural Australia and you tell them about the National Party petrol tax. I can tell you that in areas like mine and other regional areas they are really angry about it. In regional areas you have got to travel further to get somewhere and therefore you are going to pay more in petrol tax. Do you understand that? Can you get that? That is the reality of the National Party's petrol tax. But, on top of that, some of the other cuts in this budget will really impact families. Look at the education cuts: $30 billion—horrendous in terms of the impact on families. And of course many families are also worried about what is happening in terms of universities and deregulating university fees. That means that their children cannot go to university, full stop, thanks to you. We have heard some of the figures about how university fees are going to skyrocket. That will be your legacy, each and every one of you. That will be your legacy to— Mr Hutchinson: This is a new benchmark. Mrs ELLIOT: Yes, exactly, especially to regional and rural seats. Those kids will not be able to get there. But at the end of the day it is absolutely appalling—the cuts that you have brought in and all the broken promises. Cuts to pensions are just outrageous in terms of the family budget and how they are going to be able to cope. At the end of the day, you should all be very, very ashamed of what this will mean for families— Mr Hutchinson interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Hon. BC Scott ): Order! The member for Lyons! The member for Richmond has the call—but you might refer your comments through me, not at me, please. Mrs ELLIOT: Yes, Mr Deputy Speaker. This budget will be devastating for families, for pensioners, for people right throughout this nation. Of course, for electorates like mine in regional Australia, I think it is even more devastating. These people are terrified. They are terrified because of what you have done to their cost of living. They are terrified because they cannot afford to go to the doctor. It is devastating. (Time expired)