Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields) (17.07): — I thank the Member for Hawkesbury for bringing this public interest debate to the House. She has obviously been in the winners' circle of the Wheel of Fortune of speaking opportunities but she did not see that this public interest debate, like the other two, are just the bankrupt tiles. She obviously missed it.
In the public interest debate on 11 May she was caught super-spreading bad economic decisions by her colleagues on how not to build a post-COVID economy. On 8 June she infected the Member for Manly with the economic plagiarism virus. Now she has been sent out again to talk about a budget that is held up by higher taxes, increasing tolls and more fines. She never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
As a humble, working-class economist, let me tell members that this magical Pareto-optimal unicorn budget has losers—plenty of them.
Earlier today the Treasurer had the gall to ask whether any of us across the Chamber have read the Intergenerational Report. I have, and I have also read the Productivity Commission report, since he is so big on productivity. Productivity is everything; the key is productivity.
Let us go through the facts in the paper Projecting Long Run Productivity Growth Rates for the 2021 Intergenerational Report. Let us talk about productivity. Chart 9 shows that New South Wales productivity is 0.7 per cent and the national average is 1.0 per cent since 2012.
Productivity is so important that the mob opposite has led us down the gurgler—30 per cent lower than the national average. If we look at productivity growth against other States, guess where we come.
Mr Paul Scully: Last?
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG: As another humble, working-class economist, the Member for Wollongong gets the prize. He certainly did not land on the bankrupt tile; that is for sure.
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Order! The Member for Macquarie Fields does not need any assistance.
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG: There is an old saying for investigators or detectives: Always follow the money. The same is true if one is the Shadow Finance Minister, because one will find out who has been relegated to the losers column. The simple truth is there are plenty of losers, so many that I do not have enough time to speak about all of them.
The Treasurer—or should I say the Premier in waiting? Surely the Member for Hornsby has to put up a bit of a fight. The Treasurer reminds me of an old-time spruiker at sideshow alley—"Roll up, roll up, people! Everybody's a winner."
But we know that not everyone is a winner on the sideshow alley because for every large stuffed animal that gets taken home, far more kids leave with empty pockets, dashed hopes and some useless piece of plastic—and so it is with this budget.
There are plenty of dashed hopes and empty pockets. For all the spruiking by the Treasurer—"Look here, look here!"—I prefer to look elsewhere, to those who miss out on the prize and have to settle for next to nothing.
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Members will cease interjecting. I cannot hear the Member for Macquarie Fields.
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG: As I stated, always follow the money. Let me start with a brief analysis of the first big loser: toll users, the suburban motorists in south-west and western Sydney who work so hard but are taxed every time they get in their cars.
I really do not need to say any more, but suffice to say there is zero in this budget for toll road users. This Government could be renamed the Dairy Farmers Government because all it does is milk motorists dry.
Tolls will increase by an average of 8.1 per cent per year over the forward estimates—$677 million from household budgets over the next four years.
Couple that with its compulsive addiction to unmarked speed cameras, and this Government is really the enemy of the motorists, especially of those in south‑west and western Sydney—like where you live, Mr Assistant Speaker. It is a never-ending tax on suburban voters, who work so hard but never seem to get ahead under this Liberal Government. The tradies lose out as well.
What about our public servants? The Treasurer says, "Look over there! Look over there!" They remember all too well last year's offer of zero pay increase, only to be given a little by the Industrial Relations Commission.
Those very same frontline workers—the teachers, the nurses, the paramedics and so on—are meant to leap for joy that they are getting a 2.5 per cent pay rise that they should have got last year. If only I had more time.
All I will say is that there are always more losers in a Liberal government budget.
