Russell DeborahHon Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Labour): Let me give you some numbers. Someone who earns $50000 a year will end up with a tax cut of $15 a week. Someone who earns $60000 a year because of the interaction with the independent earner tax credit will end up with $25 a week. Someone who earns $70000 a year will end up with $15 a week. Someone who earns $80000 a year will end up with $20 a week. Those are the numbers behind this type of shift in the tax thresholds and that's what they mean. But there are some interesting effects of what's going on and some interesting reactions to what's going on with the tax cuts. For those of us who are still on Twitter or as it's now known X there are some pretty instant reactions coming off there. Let me read some of them to you. Someone called Amazonia says My 90-year-old mum facing a massive hike in rates"—Hon Members: Thanks to you. Hon Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL: —"gets a $4 per week increase." DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please don't overuse the word "you" and bring the Speaker into the debate. Interjection is fine but just be careful in your wording. Hon Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL: Thank you Madam Speaker. Ali says "So grateful for my $7 a week tax cut. It was so worth gutting our public sector for it." Darren says "$10 billion in inflationary tax cuts no one wants $12 billion borrowed during an inflation crisis to pay for it." Mark says "My tax cut is less than the increase in my kids' bus fares—cool. My middle feels so less squeezed now." and that's the reality: give with one hand take with the other and the taking has been greater and greater and greater from that side of the House. The interesting thing is the way that these tax cuts have been presented in the Budget statement. The Government has set out a series of examples of what individuals or families might get and in an interesting move it's all been on a fortnight basis. That's useful because you can double the numbers by doing that. But the interesting one that I found fascinating was the one that went through the various adults and family combinations as to what they would earn because they talked about a working couple—so two adults earning $150000 each per annum. Well those are pretty well-off people in the first place and they're going to get one of the biggest tax cuts going. They'll end up about $2000 better off. Andy Foster: It's two average wages. Hon Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL: No if it's $150000 each—each each each each—it adds up to $300000. That's a massive household income in this country and they're going to get one of the biggest tax cuts available. So there are some interesting ways of prioritising going on with these particular tax cuts. But in this first speech I want to direct the House's attention to the revenue strategy set out in the Budget documents as required by law. There's a particular paragraph in it—it's the second paragraph in it—that says "The Government will operate a stable predictable revenue system."—that's a good thing of course. Then it says that the current main tax basis—personal income tax company tax and a broad-based GST—will continue to raise the bulk of Crown revenue and that's what happens at the moment. Then it says that with prudent control of spending the Government does not see the need to seek major additional sources of revenue. But in the briefing to the incoming Minister in the scenarios that Treasury set out when this Government took office it clearly pointed to a huge fiscal risk in out-years—not next year or the year after or the year after it but there is a long-term risk where we know that Crown revenue is going to fall significantly under Crown expenditure. This is expenditure on health on education on welfare and on all the things that we'd like to have in this country in order to ensure that all of our citizens are looked after—so that the pensioner who is facing a massive rates increase is looked after so that the families who need to pay their prescription charges are looked after so that ordinary people do well—and yet this Government is refusing to take responsibility for the long-term fiscal projections in this country."