Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the House yesterday there was an acknowledgement of the anniversary of the Iraq war, and of the men and women who served in that conflict. I wanted to point out that all the Australian men and women who were asked to serve—men and women of the ADF, defence officials, diplomats, other security officials—in Iraq did so. Whether they agreed or not with the rule, whether they had issues with the reasoning behind the war, they did their duty—their obligation—and went and served their country in uniform or in their capacity as a security and defence official in Iraq.

There has been a lot of commentary around the last 20 years and what it has meant for Iraqi people. Obviously, we also lost personnel in Iraqi in that conflict as well and we grieve for their families. I want to note on this occasion that I spent a year in Iraq. I was asked to serve as a security and defence official in Iraq. I made it publicly known in some media that I thought the war was wrong, that it was a strategic error, and a humanitarian disaster unfolded. But having said that, the people who did go to Iraq, the Australians who served there, whether they agreed or not with the war, also had a responsibility after the Saddam Hussein regime had been removed to help rebuild that country. They did so professionally and they achieved a lot in that rebuilding. Iraq has had a lot of problems over many years but it is still intact as a sovereign state. Some of that is due to the work that Australians did at the time helping rebuild the political and economic structures of that country during that period. It is important to note the service of all Australians who spent time there.

Closer to home, we know as a government that the cost of living is front of mind for many Australians right now. The basics are costing a lot more. Australians are walking away from the supermarket with less for their money. Rising interest rates are making it harder to pay the mortgage. Many renters are feeling the pressure of costs being passed on, increasing their rent. Surging rents have actually kept many Australians trapped in the rental cycle for prolonged periods. The Albanese government is acutely aware of how difficult it is right now for people just to get by and that is why we are so focused on doing what we can to relieve the pressure on Australians. Although we have been in power for some 10 months, we have actually done a fair bit to relieve that pressure so far. I will just quickly run through a couple of things we have done. There are changes to child care. As many parents will know, childcare costs are such a significant burden. Our cheaper childcare reforms will actually help families save up to 90 per cent on their child care. This will provide much needed relief from 1 July this year and will make child care more affordable and accessible for Australian families, and ensure families with children in care are better off.

The Albanese government has also reformed paid parental leave. This reform recently passed the parliament. It will now better meet the needs of modern Australian families, with a single paid parental leave. From 1 July, new parents will be able to use a total of 20 weeks leave as they choose, sharing the leave however it works best for that particular family. Parents will also be able to access leave in multiple blocks of as small as one day, with periods of work in between. The new combined family income limit will also see an additional nearly 3,000 parents become eligible to access paid parental leave and have access to that 20 weeks of paid parental leave, an increase from 18 weeks. This is just a start. There's more to do to help working families, and we will be delivering on paid parental leave of 26 weeks in 2026.

We're also delivering on cheaper medicine. That has already occurred. Over 3.2 million prescriptions were cheaper in the first two months of this year. Thanks to our policy, which came into effect on 1 January, Australians have saved more than $36 million since that time. The maximum out-of-pocket cost for most medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is now $12.50 lower. For a family relying on two or three medications, that's going to put as much as $450 back into the household budget, back into people's pockets. That's real. That's making a difference to people. It's delivering real savings. Actions taken by the Labor government, the Albanese government, are relieving the pressure on families.

We're also working to strengthen Medicare and reduce the pressure on hospitals. That's part of our $750 million Strengthening Medicare funding package, which will implement the recommendations of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce report. We're delivering $220 million in infrastructure grants to strengthen general practice and we're delivering 50 urgent care centres, which will be rolled out over the course of this year. We're committed to making it easier for people to see their GP. We're expanding the seniors health card, helping more Australians access cheaper medicines on their visits to the GP. The government is committed to this because it's ensuring Australians receive the quality health care they deserve.

We are all aware—I think it's a fact we all know—that Russia's illegal, abhorrent invasion of Ukraine has led to energy prices going to historic levels globally. As much as the opposition want to politicise this, it's just a fact, a reality of that war. The Albanese Labor government has taken action, though, to help shield Australians from the worst of those rising energy costs. Last week's release of the draft default market offer, the DMO, for electricity showed increases that are up to 29 percentage points lower than the Australian Energy Regulator projected late last year. That wouldn't have occurred if it weren't for the action taken by the Albanese government to cap prices late last year, when we were called back to parliament—all of us remember this—and we were asked to cap the prices of domestic coal and gas. If we hadn't done that, the increases would've been much more significant. There are estimates of around 40 to 50 per cent instead of 20 to 22 per cent.

That Energy Price Relief Plan includes consumer and small business rebates to protect Australians from the worst of the rising energy costs. It included targeted relief on power bills to households receiving income support, pensioners, Commonwealth seniors health card holders, family tax benefit A and B recipients, and small business customers. That was the investment into those people, those Australians. And I have got to say that those opposite said no. They voted against that relief. That's also a fact that can never actually be changed. We came back because we knew how serious this was. We recalled parliament, we came back to vote on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Energy Price Relief Plan) Bill, and those opposite voted no. They voted no to relief.

O pposition member s interjecting—

You voted no, and you voted no, and you voted no to that relief, and those facts will be there indelibly in the Hansard record, in the historical record. You opposed price relief for all of those Australians, and that is something that you are responsible for. Thankfully, we got it through the parliament and it is having an effect, as I said.

Lastly, I do want to touch on something else that they might be opposing—I hope not. We all know that safe and affordable housing is central to the security and dignity of all Australians. It's something I personally understand, as does the Minister for Housing and the Prime Minister. We grew up in housing commission. We're all housos and proud of it because it gave us a roof over our heads. It gave us stability. It was something that allowed us to then maximise our potential and our contribution to this great country.

So many Australians are struggling with rising rents, struggling with mortgage payments and struggling to buy a home. Sadly, too many are facing or experiencing homelessness. That's why our government is committed to the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund and is putting that in place. That's 30,000 new social and affordable homes. It's the most significant investment in generations, and it will deliver our commitments to help address acute housing needs. It will provide $200 million for the repair, maintenance and improvement of housing in remote Indigenous communities. It will ensure Australians have access to safe and affordable housing, reduce the pressure on the rental market, help provide 40 per cent of the purchase price and repayments for a new home in the Help to Buy Scheme for an existing home.

This is a government focused on addressing the housing and rental crisis, and those opposite want to oppose it—again. You're going to go down in history as opposing all the types of support necessary for Australians to get through this difficult period, and you should be ashamed of that.

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