Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I walk the streets of my electorate, visiting community groups, sporting organisations, businesses and of course—one of my favourite things—burger shops, the most common feedback I get is: 'Gee, you guys are doing a great job!' As a first-time MP and someone very new to politics, that is something I didn't expect to hear from locals—and it is totally unprompted when it comes.

Let's be honest: why wouldn't they be happy? Just months into our term we have delivered a budget that has delivered over $400 million to the Hunter electorate and much more in the wider Hunter region with my colleagues the member for Paterson, the member for Shortland and the Deputy Speaker, the member for Newcastle. But it is not just about delivering once a year in a budget; it is what we're doing day to day that matters. Childcare cost is a huge issue for families, and our cheaper childcare policy will see 6,300 families in the Hunter electorate better off. We know this will help ease the financial stress for families not just in the Hunter but right across the country.

We have just seen changes to paid parental leave pass through this place. These will make it fairer and encourage parents to share the caring responsibilities. But we are not stopping there; we're also extending paid parental leave to 26 weeks, giving more time to families at that important time of life when they are welcoming a new baby.

We are staying focused on easing pressure on families and helping Australians manage their budgets. Cheaper medicines took effect on 1 January and people in the Hunter electorate who rely on prescriptions are seeing cheaper medicines, which is saving them up to $450 per year, helping with them with the cost of living. We have 180,000 free TAFE places now available, to tackle skills shortages and help more Australians train for good, secure jobs.

And the great news continues in 2023. We will establish a national anticorruption commission. We will see same jobs, same pay legislation introduced, which will ensure workers employed through dodgy labour hire agreements receive the same pay as workers employed directly. This will deliver wage increases for people employed in a number of sectors right across the Hunter electorate.

Last week we introduced a package of legislation to deliver the single-biggest investment in affordable and social housing in more than a decade. It will include the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023, which will deliver on our government's promise to create the $10 billion fund.

We will establish the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund that will provide finance for projects that diversify and transform Australia's industry and economy. We have launched our National Battery Strategy, seeking feedback on how we can boost Australia's battery industries. We will soon introduce legislation around the safeguard mechanisms, which is a critical building block for Australia's progression towards net zero.

We are reviewing the broken Medicare system, with the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce. Gap fees have skyrocketed over the last decade. For the first time in the history of Medicare the average gap fee for a standard GP consult is now more than the Medicare rebate itself. We all know what caused that, and those opposite should hang their heads in shame. This means that too many Australians in the community simply can't get the care they need when they need it. We will fix that.

We can't fix overnight all the problems left by the previous government, but we aren't wasting a single day. People are realistic and recognise that there is more to do. We were elected for a three-year term, and you can't get everything done on day one. There is a lot more to do as we clean up the mess left to us by the governments of Prime Ministers Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison. We will continue to deliver targeted, responsible cost-of-living relief to Australians in 2023 as part of delivering our plan for a better future.

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