WAYNE SWAN MP
MEMBER FOR LILLEY
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
BRISBANE
SATURDAY, 7 JULY 2018
WAYNE SWAN, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR LILLEY: This afternoon at the Liberal National Party conference in Brisbane, we saw a very desperate Prime Minister. A Prime Minister who was hurling abuse at his political opponents as a camouflage for the massive cuts to health and education, particularly here in Queensland which are going to flow from decisions this Prime Minister has taken.
He doesn't walk in the same shopping malls as Queenslanders, he hasn't got a clue what life is like in the suburbs of Brisbane, or regional areas of Queensland, and his tax package shows that.
His tax package is directed to the top ten percent of income earners, to the big banks and to wealthy foreign corporations, and people in places like Longman are going to be paying for that tax package through cuts to health and education and higher taxes for decades to come.
JOURNALIST: What did you make of the fact that two of their most senior members of the Senate got dumped from their ticket?
SWAN: Well the LNP in Queensland is in a shambles. Not only did they sack two of their senior Senators, but if you look at the crowd there today they couldn't even get the room half-full for the Prime Minister.
They are simply split asunder by the policies of the Federal Government which are ripping the guts out of health and education in Queensland and giving big tax cuts for high income earners, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne where Mr Turnbull lives. Mr Turnbull lives in a big house on the harbour. It is tax cuts designed for people who live in wealthy electorates.
People who live in regional Queensland, people who live in suburban Queensland are going to get the rough end of the pineapple from Malcolm Turnbull through cuts to health and education.
JOURNALIST: Speaking of taxes, he's using his tax plan as a positive in the by-election in the seat of Longman, what's your reaction to that?
SWAN: Well the big issues in Longman are the issues of the provision of public health services. Mr Turnbull is proud to have cut hospital funding at the Caboolture Hospital that is one of the biggest issues in the Longman election, but worse than that, people there are on modest incomes. They will not derive any substantial benefits in the tax cuts that Malcolm Turnbull is directing to the top end of town, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne.
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT: DANIEL DE VOSS 0403 775 158
Authorised by Noah Carroll, ALP, Canberra
