MARK DREYFUS MP

I am in John Button's debt for showing me that it is possible to achieve good results and real change through parliamentary work. All parliamentarians and all Australians are in his debt for the contributions he made and the example that he set. I extend my condolences to his family.

This budget demonstrates to the Australian people that this is a government which will fulfil its commitments on education and skills, its commitments on climate change and the environment, its commitments on infrastructure and its commitments on health.

This is a bill which will amend Australian tax laws to fairly recognise the loss a taxpayer receives as a result of having an amount misappropriated from them

This bill is an important step in overturning the regressive and mean-spirited agenda of the previous government.

The existing permit system cannot be linked to the instance of child abuse and, indeed, it is very likely that if it were to have remained scrapped, as those opposite would wish, that would have led to an increase in child abuse

Enactment of the model law in other countries will enable Australian creditors to pursue more easily corporate miscreants such as the infamous Christopher Skase.

Our lifesavers protect us. Lifesaving is part of a quintessentially Australian activity and holds a very special place in Australian culture.

I want to pay tribute to the work done in my electorate by the Friends of Braeside Park.

All in all, this set of reforms is directed at achieving consistency, transparency, accountability and the reduction of red tape all of which aims are touchstones for the Rudd Labor government.

High-speed broadband is no longer an optional extra. It is critical to full participation in contemporary society and in the modern economy.