Together, we can stare down this Abbott Budget

Gary,

Tomorrow marks 100 days since Tony Abbott and the Coalition revealed their true colours to the nation. 

Many of us suspected it, and the Budget confirmed our worst fears: having lied to win power, the new Government’s real agenda was to create an unfair Australia for the privileged few. 

That’s not the Australia I believe in. It’s not the Australia Labor believes in. And I know it’s not the Australia you believe in. 

And over these past 100 days, you have proved how hard you’re willing to fight Abbott’s unfair Budget: over 113,000 of you have signed petitions, from the GP tax to education cuts to ABC funding, and thousands attended rallies against the Budget. Volunteers have made over 38,000 phone calls to voters informing them of the damage the Budget would wreak, and you have donated tens of thousands of dollars to air TV ads doing the same. 

Thank you.

We still have much to do if we are to stand in the way of Tony Abbott’s backward vision for an Australia that destroys the fair go, but thanks largely to your efforts we are already well under way.

It has been a truly amazing community response. And a sorely needed one: if we do nothing when our schools and hospitals are slashed, and our pensioners, job seekers, students and parents are cast aside, then the whole nation suffers. 

When we stand together, when we speak with one voice, we can defeat this Government’s extreme ideological agenda. 

Our fight has only just begun. As long as Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey, Chris Pyne and their colleagues are in power, our fundamental Australian values are under threat.

We know that together, we can stare down this Budget. Thanks for helping prove that, and I look forward to fighting the good fight with you as we continue into the next 100 days. 

Thanks for standing with me on this,

Bill