Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to highlight the work that the Albanese Labor government has undertaken to make child care cheaper, as well as its targeted cost-of-living measures that are being provided to Australians.

In my electorate of Robertson on the Central Coast there are many young parents and families benefiting from our government's cheaper childcare policy. From the month of July this year, 6,900 families in Robertson received an increase to their childcare subsidy. What this means is that an average family on a combined income of around $120,000 with one child in care will save around $1,700 in the first year of our policy coming into effect. That is $1,700 kept in the pockets of families living on the Central Coast and right across Australia.

Unfortunately, under the former Liberal government, we saw childcare fees rise by 49 per cent with no plan to help Australian families with these rising costs. I am proud to be part of a Labor federal government that continues to waste no time and is getting on with the job of supporting Australian families with cost of living. Across Australia there are now 1.2 million families benefiting from cheaper child care, which means more Australian families accessing affordable early childhood education and care across the country.

The Albanese Labor government knows the importance of early childhood education and care and how critical those first five years are for the development of a young mind. Research supports the powerful role that early childhood education and care provides. Our government will continue to work on ways to make child care more accessible and more affordable for more Australian families.

I want to take the opportunity to thank all the early childhood educators on the Central Coast and right across this country that provide outstanding education and care. The work that you do is so important, and you have a federal government that is on your side. But there is more work to do, and I am confident in the leadership of the Minister for Education and the Minister for Early Childhood Education who are steering our government's approach towards making early childhood education and care more equitable and more accessible.

The Albanese Labor government's targeted cost-of-living relief does not stop at cheaper child care. This government has a suite of targeted cost-of-living measures that are helping Australians across the nation, and an area that I am particularly pleased to see investment in is Medicare. Australians know that it was the Australian Labor Party who built Medicare. It's only the Labor Party who will strengthen it and it is only the Labor Party that will continue to protect it. In the 2023-24 federal budget it was great to see the Treasurer announce an investment of $3.5 billion to triple the bulk-billing incentive. This injection supports patients and general practitioners and will strengthen what is the heart of Medicare, and that is bulk-billing. This is the largest ever increase to the bulk-billing incentive in the history of Medicare. I'm pleased to report that this investment will benefit 73,130 people living in the electorate of Robertson on the New South Wales Central Coast, which means more equitable access to a doctor and targeted cost-of-living relief for Australians.

On the Central Coast, the Albanese Labor government is progressing with our commitment to deliver two Medicare urgent care clinics, with one to be established in the north in Dobell and one in the south in my electorate of Robertson. Medicare urgent care clinics are game changers. They have been seen to be quite effective in other countries, like Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. They will be bulk-billed, and they will be open seven days a week, with extended operating hours. After nine long years of cuts and nine long years of neglect, the Albanese government is making Medicare stronger for all Australians, providing relief for Australians accessing health care and providing equitable access to general practice.

Lastly, another area where our government is easing the cost-of-living is energy bill assistance. In New South Wales 320,000 eligible small businesses will receive a $650 rebate towards their electricity bill, and we will continue to develop measures to ease the cost-of-living for all Australians.

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