Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

It is so well represented. I commend the member for Macnamara for being part of the government and for his vote for cheaper medicines—$702,000 was saved in the electorate of Macnamara and 6,100 families are better off because of cheaper child care because the people of Macnamara know good policy, they know good representation and they sent the member for Macnamara here to stand up for those families and to deliver for all of those people who wanted to see a government that wants to get things done, not those opposite, who constantly say no.

Let's talk about what's in the future for the electorate of Corangamite and all over Australia. We want to deliver more social housing, and that's the question in front of this parliament right now. Both chambers of this parliament have in front of them housing legislation to deliver 30,000 new social and affordable homes. I know that the member for Corangamite is 100 per cent committed to delivering more affordable homes for more Australians and proudly does not stand part of the Greens-Liberal-Nationals coalition. What we see when it comes to housing is a big fat no from those opposite. When it came to action on climate change they came in here and said no. We saw that today, when it came to whether they could commit to truly supporting an increase in wages. Do you actually believe in stronger wages? We've put legislation into this parliament to give people more secure jobs and more wages in their pockets so that they can actually pay for things they need. Again, it was opposed by those opposite. We get to this point where, while there are all these things that are opposed by those opposite, we still have the big lie from the Leader of the Opposition. When he marked his own homework his self-assessment was: 'I think we've been a constructive opposition.' I don't think even his backbench wants him to be a constructive opposition. I'm not even sure if that's still the plan to be a constructive opposition, but that was his own mark of his homework.

I end with this. Those on this side of the House came here to fight for cheaper medicine. Those opposite opposed it before they even knew the details. We came here to fight for cheaper child care. Those opposite said it was not the policy they would have introduced. We came here to fight for an increase in the minimum wage. Those opposite told us it would wreck the economy. We came here for 30,000 new affordable homes. They told us that our priorities were all wrong. We came here to raise the standards of the Australian government, and those opposite defend the member for Cook week after week.

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