Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Hansard source

Amid the hustle and bustle of this place and the everyday of this place, there are moments for each and every one of us that stand out in our memories, little vignettes that are seared into our minds. For me, one of those was during my first term when I stood right there on the benches as an opposition backbencher. I spoke on behalf of a constituent of mine named Mary. Mary had come to see me during one of my 'meet your member' events. As she spoke to me and tears streamed down her face, she told me about the cost-of-living pressures on her and how they were affecting her, how she couldn't afford the vital pain relief medication that she so desperately needed to do even the most simplest and menial of tasks, things that we take for granted every day. I remember standing right there and looking over the aisle as I was talking about Mary and sharing her story with the House and watching the members opposite, those who at the time were on the government side, shake their heads. They weren't taking their heads in empathy for Mary but they were shaking them in disapproval and disdain, as if Mary's story did not matter to them. That was their attitude. Well, it took the election of a Labor government for Mary's story to matter, the election of a Labor government for Mary and her story of cost-of-living pressures to be heard.

The fact is that this motion comes today after a wasted decade of inaction and warped priorities from the Liberal-National coalition—priorities that put keeping wages low as the centrepiece of their economic plan; priorities that ignored the Australian people and ignored people like Mary. This is a motion that comes from those who did nothing to help Australians deal with the rising cost of living, even as it went up and up in front of their eyes; those who sat back and watched Australian families struggle; those who drove a trillion dollars of debt at a time of rising interest rates; those who deliberately kept wages low.

From day one, the Albanese Labor government have acted. We've acted on addressing the great challenge that our nation is currently presented with—the great challenge of inflation—through a plan that is about relief, about repairing supply chains, and about restraint and responsible spending. It is about responsible action that makes a real difference to household budgets and cost-of-living relief that doesn't put extra pressure on inflation—things like our more affordable early childhood education and care, expanding paid parental leave and cheaper medicines. And I stand here next to the Minister for Health and Aged Care, who delivered that. He is the architect of cheaper medicines, which would help Mary. Things that would help Mary are more affordable housing and getting wages moving again.

The economic plan that our Treasurer has put forward is direct and is a deliberate response to the challenge facing Australia today: the challenge of inflation and the challenge of the cost of living. In fact, one of the very first acts of this government, the Albanese Labor government, was to successfully argue for a minimum wage to keep pace with inflation. Does everybody remember that? Does everybody remember how those opposite voted? Does everyone remember how those opposite wouldn't give even a $1-an-hour increase to Australia's lowest paid workers. And they want to stand here and talk to us about the cost of living! That's what they want to do. They want to raise a motion about the cost of living when they wouldn't even give the lowest paid workers a $1-an-hour increase in their wage. One dollar—I think I found one dollar hiding somewhere behind my sofa one day—that's how much they didn't want to give to our lowest paid workers. That was one of our very first acts. And do you know what that did? That act itself helped around 2.7 million Australians.

We know that rising interest rates and global uncertainty have impacts on families, and that's why the Albanese Labor government is acting responsibly. That's why we're showing restraint. That's why we're delivering real relief to Australian people. That's what we're doing here. And let me just talk about our early childhood education and care reforms, because they're an important example of that relief. Under the previous government, the Liberal-National coalition, fees for centre-based child care rose by over 40 per cent. They sat on their hands and watched the fees for early childhood education and care rise by over 40 per cent. Now, I know, and I know that many on this side know, that families sit around the table and work out their household budgets, and one of the first things they factor in is the cost of early childhood education and care. Then they work out how many extra hours the primary caregiver can work before that money that he or she has earned—predominantly, that she has earned—is eaten away by those fees.

That's why we took to the election a promise to cut the cost of early childhood education and care, and might I remind the House that during the election those opposite said it was unnecessary. Those opposite said it was a waste. Those opposite did not support it. Again, they were saying no to real cost-of-living relief for families—things that this government has done in its very short time in office. We said we would deliver that cost-of-living relief, and we have.

So early learning, benefiting 1.2 million Australians right across Australia—

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