4 March 2013

Abbott must come clean with Western Sydney

Tony Abbott must today look the people of Western Sydney in the eye and reveal which families and pensioners will be on his chopping block.

This morning on the Today Show, Mr Abbott promised more savage cuts were on the way.

Later on Sunrise, he said that he would reveal all of these cuts 'close to the election.'

It is not good enough for Tony Abbott to hide his secret plan from the very people he will meet today.  

Tony Abbott owes it to the people of Western Sydney to answer three simple questions on his secret policies:

  1. How will they be funded?
  2. Will he rule out that anyone will be worse off under him cutting household assistance payments?
  3. Why won't he release them now?

He should have the guts to spell out exactly where these vicious cuts to hard working families are going to hit.

These new secret cuts come on top of the shameful commitments that have already been made by Tony Abbott.

New data today has uncovered that under Tony Abbott's existing commitments over half a million Western Sydney workers will be slugged with a tax hike.  

The new analysis also shows that 150,000 Western Sydney families will have their payments cut by an Abbott Government – including the abolition of the Schoolkids bonus.

We also know from recent comments that an Abbott Government will scrap superannuation payments of up to $500 a year for 3.6 million Australians on modest incomes.

Tony Abbott will also cut the aged pension – the first Opposition Leader in living memory to take a plan to cut pensions to the election.

Make no mistake, hardworking families and pensioners are right in the firing line to fill the Coalition's epic $70 billion budget crater.

By continually announcing policies to smash hard working families and pensioners, Tony Abbott shows time and again how unfit he is for office.