In this election campaign, I am again asking the people of the Bendigo electorate to trust me to help secure their future.
My agenda for a fifth term as your Federal Member for Bendigo builds on the successes of the past 12 years.
A re-elected Gillard Labor Government will continue to build on its success in steering Australia through the Global Financial Crisis and the greates global economic uncertainty for more than 70 years.
As noted Washington Post columnist, EJ Dionne, Jnr wrote just a few days ago: “The Australian economy is a global marvel. It never went into recession, and Australia's unemployment rate is an astonishingly low 5.2 percent.”
Of course the uncertainty is not behind us yet and economic challenges are still very much with us, as hard-working Australians, who are doing it tough can attest.
That’s why a re-elected Gillard Labor Government will bring the Budget to surplus by 2013 – three years ahead of schedule. A surplus that Labor will be protect in this election campaign by not going on an election spend-a-thon, by making sure that any promise we make to spend money is offset by a promise to save money.
Budget surpluses and a stronger economy will offer more Australians the opportunity to get a job, keep a job, learn new skills, get a better job and start their own business.
A stronger economy offers Australian families security, opportunity and fairness at work.
And no-one should forget that the Opposition voted against the Labor Government’s economic stimulus measures.
When the Global Financial Crisis hit, they opposed the stimulus package, they would have sent our economy downwards into a spiral of lower incomes, lost jobs, and reduced services.
The choice for voters is clear.
Julia Gillard is committed to moving Australia forward while Tony Abbott will take us back to the days of cuts in the health and education services on which so many Australians rely – and back to the worst aspects of John Howard’s WorkChoices.