Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

They left Australia in a position without any economic strategy going forward and without having an energy policy, in spite of 22 efforts. We on this side have been very busy implementing our plans. There's our plan for cheaper child care, which has been introduced this week. We'll wait and see if they vote for it! Remember that when we announced that, in my first budget reply, they opposed removing the cap. They said that it was reckless, but then, of course, they did it.

But they didn't go down the track of where they needed to, because they never understood that women's workforce participation is something that can benefit the entire economy—something that leads to growth and that boosts productivity. It's just like they didn't understand the support that we had. They tried to jump on for the cheaper medicines but didn't quite get there. We'll wait and see. I don't know if they're supporting our cheaper pharmaceuticals plan, the first reduction in pharmaceutical costs since Labor introduced the PBS 75 years ago. The first ever reduction, making an enormous difference to families out there. Of course, what they say is, 'We forgot to do it in our first year, our second year, our third year, our fourth year, our fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth years. If you had elected us four or five times, we would have got around to doing that. But we just didn't get around to doing it.'

We brought together business, unions and civil society groups at the Jobs and Skills Summit again to make sure that we work for our common interest. The leader of the Nats was there—he wasn't going to miss out on that opportunity—but of course the Leader of the Opposition showed just how irrelevant he was by refusing to participate, even though the shadow Treasurer called for an invite and wanted to go, then boycotted as well. And remember this: they opposed the increase in the minimum wage. They opposed it and said the sky would fall if the minimum wage went up by $1 an hour. That's their record.

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