Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on a matter that many in my electorate of Aston have written and called about, an issue that I hear about quite often and something that this government is committed to tackling. Tackling cost-of-living pressures is Labor's No. 1 priority. That's why we are working to cut taxes, boost wages, bring inflation under control and drive fairer prices for Australian consumers. Cost of living is something that we know disproportionately affects low- and middle-income households. I know something about this. I grew up in a low-income household with a family that needed and got support from a government that cared, a government that knew that looking after people is the right thing to do.

The Albanese Labor government has invested in fee-free TAFE to get people into careers and reskilling those from other careers to address the skills shortages we are having across Australia after the lack of investment from the previous government. Only a Labor government can be trusted to invest in people through education and training. With 300,000 fee-free TAFE places, access to these programs is even easier for those who are looking to invest in themselves and learn a new skill or trade.

In addition to these changes to bring people into work, we supported an increase to the minimum wage to help ensure that Australians who work get a fairer wage. Something was sorely needed following the decade of wage stagnation under the previous government. There was a deliberate policy under those opposite to keep Australia's wages low. Whilst they claim now to be the champions of the working class, they have done everything they can to punish the working class. In fact, our government have supported the increase to the minimum wage twice in the two years we have been in government, compared to the constant push against such wages that those opposite made, where there was no increase.

Good government is about knowing and hearing the challenges of the people and responding. That's why we increased funding and investment for vital services that help those that need it and that the statistics show. When economic circumstances change, the right thing to do is change your economic policy. That's what we're doing. We're doing the right thing for the right reasons.

The Labor Party is the working-class party. We know what the reality is for many in the community because some of us grew up experiencing the same things. Some of us grew up relying on support services and the good graces of government and social programs. Aston is filled with working-class people. Many constituents are also on various forms of benefits and concessions, like rental assistance. It is an electorate that is built on the back of the working class and is home to many who work in other electorates in a similar vein.

All these policies build towards addressing inequality. Our government has also increased rental assistance to help address this particular cost-of-living pressure. It is the largest increase to rental assistance in 30 years, increasing the payments by 15 per cent. I want to reinforce that, at every turn, every struggle that Australians have, this Albanese Labor government has developed measures and policies to help alleviate the mess left by the previous Liberal government. Aston residents have saved $1,511,962 thanks to our policy on cheaper medicine since it was introduced last year. That's money that stays in their pockets, money that they can use to help their families. Only a Labor government will look after Medicare, which is increasingly important after it turned 40 this month. Those opposite made cut after cut to Medicare when in government. Who can forget when their health minister at the time—now their leader—Mr Dutton, tried to introduce a $7 co-payment on visits to GPs? Under our government Medicare will always be prioritised because Labor is the party of Medicare. We created it, and we will always protect and strengthen it.

We are reforming and making the largest investments in bulk-billing in the 40-year history of Medicare. Last year Australians saved $250 million on cheaper medicines because of our policies. This year those savings will continue and will grow, with the second and third phases of 60-day prescriptions—all thanks to Labor. In my electorate of Aston, over 93,000 people are receiving an average tax cut of $1,505—a cut worth far more than the original LMITO. But the 'lamington', I hear! Labor is getting rid of the 'lamington'. No, Labor did not get rid of the 'lamington'. The LMITO was only ever temporary. The former Morrison Liberal government, typical in their ways, did not tell the whole story. Even when they conveniently extended a temporary payment prior to an election, they still could not match the cost-of-living relief that this Albanese Labor government delivers. This relief will leave 84 per cent of Australians better off than under what the Liberals proposed.

Despite 84 per cent of Australians being better off under this plan, the day before we announced it the Liberal Party made a stand against it. They hadn't even seen the policy when the Deputy Leader of the Opposition announced: 'We will fight this legislation in the parliament. We don't even know what it will look like.' How can a party who, surprisingly, are calling themselves the party for working Australians even consider removing legislation that would benefit them? Is the backpedalling that is going on right now a warm-up for the Olympics? When you claim to advocate for one group and then try your utmost to fight against the interests of said group, are you foolhardy or are you just practising bad policy or trying to pander to other interests? Perhaps those opposite should make sure they know who their friends are.

Again, whilst our government is delivering the positive changes Australians voted for and trying to relieve the cost-of-living pressures, the Liberal Party is trying to tear it down and accuse everyone in the ALP of being 'crony capitalists'. Those words are straight from the member for Hume. Crony capitalism—seriously, what decade are we in here? The 1960s, maybe? Typical of the opposition: stuck in the past, criticising everything but never helping. If they were in government, the working people of Australia would spend most of their time on the breadline before realising that it too had been privatised. I would never presume that those across the aisle might know what a union is. In case they need a quick reminder, a union is made up of people from a workplace or industry working collectively to ensure their interests are taken care of, like the Pharmacy Guild or the Farmers Federation. I'm sure those opposite are familiar with them. Casting aspersions on groups that advocate for workers' rights would be problematic at the very least for a party that somehow claims to be acting in the best interests of workers. This is the party that brought in WorkChoices. Wasn't that partly the work of the member for Dickson when he was the Minister for Workforce Participation, gleefully assisting in bringing in WorkChoices? What was former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's one-word assessment of the member for Dickson? And those opposite have the gall to call proud unionists—people like me—that word. The party for working Australians indeed! Or has he had a change of heart?

We'll deliver a tax cut that benefits more Australians, and we're doing it in a way that is fair and responsible. Our government listens. We hear the issues that Australians care about, not some confected outrage that serves only the select few. We care about making Australia a place for all, not for the landed gentry, whom those opposite champion. We stand for a better fairer system, not a system where we must hope and pray for trickle-down economic prosperity for those opposite.