David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party, Assistant Minister for Children and Families) Share this | Hansard source

The best thing we can do to help with the cost of living is to keep people in employment and get those who are unemployed into a job. The great news from the Turnbull-Joyce coalition government is we have had a jobs bonanza over the last couple of years: 403,000 new jobs in the Australian economy in the last year, and 75 per cent of them are full-time jobs—not part time; full-time employment. That is the best thing we can do for Australian citizens so that they can afford the cost of living. We have done so many things to improve the lot of the Australian citizen who is working hard, trying to get ahead, paying their mortgage off and wants to know they have a secure job and a future for their kids.

We have major reforms and improvements from July 2018 in child care. That's one of the biggest costs for a family, along with health insurance, electricity bills and their mortgage. We're helping on all fronts. The amount of child care will increase, because the cap is being moved up to $10,000 from $7,600. For example, a family with two people working full time, earning $80,000 in income, like many of the people in my electorate, with two children under six years old in long day care, will be $100 per day, or up to $8,000 per year, better off in their childcare rebate. That means they can work more, they can save, they can get ahead.

In the Lyne electorate we had a North Coast jobs and investment package announcement last week: $2 million in targeted investment for established companies that want to grow but need capital. These targeted investments will lead to, at the estimates of the companies who are the recipients, over 200 long-term jobs during construction and as the businesses grow. We have that on top of all the infrastructure we're rolling out around the country: a $75 billion spend. In the Lyne electorate we've had over a billion dollars in roadworks and major employment growth in civil construction. Jobs are the best thing that will help with the cost of living—but not just that: electricity. The National Energy Guarantee will lead to a reduction in costs of at least $115 per year. It will make more gas available, increase the capacity for base load so that we don't have the disaster they had in South Australia, where they had no base load to kick in when the fuse blew on the extension cord from Victoria, because of the storm.

See this speech in context