Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) | Hansard source

They don't mean it.

Those opposite don't even pretend to care about the cost of living anymore. All 13.6 million Australian taxpayers will be receiving a tax cut come 1 July under Labor's tax reforms, which deliver a bigger tax cut to Middle Australia to help with the cost of living. Under our plan, 11.5 million people will get a bigger tax cut than they would have under Scott Morrison's legislated stage 3 tax cuts. That's 84 per cent of taxpayers.

Looking locally, in my electorate on the Central Coast of New South Wales it's even higher. Eighty-eight per cent of taxpayers in Dobell will be better off under Labor's plan than under that of those opposite. Who are the biggest beneficiaries of these tax reforms? They are the nurses I worked with at Wyong Hospital, the teachers at Toukley Public School and the retail workers at Woolworths.

As the Prime Minister said, it's not the job of a leader to sit back and wring their hands when confronted with new challenges. It's their job to act, to take responsibility, to do the right thing. That's exactly what we're doing. We want people to earn more and to keep more of what they earn. Take aged-care worker Kylie, who recently received a 15 per cent pay rise and has just purchased her first home. She will now be receiving a tax cut. Take Julie from RFBI in Lake Haven, or Tracey, a single parent and personal care worker. They were on the front line of the global pandemic and they deserve more than thanks; they deserve proper cost-of-living relief. The aged-care sector was completely neglected by those opposite for a decade, and now those aged-care workers, who support our loved ones, are receiving the investment and support to care for others that they rightly deserve under our government and Minister Wells.

Since the stage 3 tax cuts were legislated by Scott Morrison five years ago, there has been a one-in-100-year global pandemic. There have been wars, conflict, a global inflation spike and higher interest rates. These events have put people under greater cost-of-living pressure. As the Prime Minister has said, it's our job as a government, when global economic circumstances change, to change the support that we can provide Australians.

While we're focused on supporting Australians, the opposition have tied themselves in knots over whether to support Labor's tax cuts. The opposition were on the front foot in coming out against our tax reforms. Everyone remembers the Deputy Leader of the Opposition saying: 'We will fight this legislation in the parliament. We don't even know what it will look like.' When you think about it, Madam Deputy Speaker, this is their instinct on everything.

Another key element of our government's cost-of-living relief is fee-free TAFE. I know that in my community on the Central Coast—and I know Dr Reid, the member for Robertson, will absolutely agree—so many people have benefited from fee-free TAFE. Last year more than 300,000 people undertook a course through the program. I had the privilege of inviting the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Marles, to Ourimbah campus to meet many of the people who are benefiting from fee-free TAFE—people starting out in work, people changing careers or people getting the skills they need for more secure work. That is real cost-of-living relief, and the success of this program in setting people up for work has led our government to commit to a further 300,000 places this year. For workers in areas from hairdressing to plumbing, our government is supporting people to upskill at no cost, helping them into the workforce, into more secure work and better pay.

Just this week the House passed the second part of our government's closing loopholes legislation, after the first half passed the parliament late last year. This legislation delivers much-needed protections and a minimum wage for gig workers, who often work extended hours for minimal pay just to make ends meet. Unsurprisingly, because the legislation made others better off, those opposite fought it every step of the way while being happy to order Uber Eats or Deliveroo. Our government wants all workers to be better off, and this legislation means that gig workers aren't left behind—workers too often forgotten, left behind by the former government unless they were ordering Menulog.

In my area of responsibility, working with Minister Butler in health, this is particularly important in the discussion about the cost of living. As everybody knows, health outcomes, our health and wellbeing, aren't just a result of access to clinical care—although this access is critical, and I will come to that; financial insecurity itself is an important driver of physical and mental ill health. It's no secret that the social grading in this country gives a pretty good proxy for health outcomes. You can map it geographically, too. Equally, in mental health, when you're under financial strain, you're more likely to experience distress.

This is why the Albanese government is so deeply focused on cost-of-living relief across all arms of government. It's a genuine whole-of-government approach to reduce the drivers to stress, to boost protective factors for all Australians. It's why we're getting on with record investment in health to unwind some of the damage those opposite did. And we're strengthening Medicare so that all Australians can access and, importantly, afford quality health care closer to home.

Nowhere is this more the case that in bulk-billing. There is a sharp contrast here. As health minister, Peter Dutton tried to establish a GP tax. When the Senate blocked that, he froze Medicare rebates for six long years. As we said in question time today, he was voted the worst Australian health minister. That demonstrated to GPs what he thought of their profession and to every patient what he thought about their right to care. Those opposite don't see it as a right at all. That's the truth of the matter.

In contrast, under Labor we have brought bulk-billing back to be the absolute beating heart of Medicare. In the two short months since the tripling of the bulk-billing GP incentive, we've stopped the absolute freefall that was happening under the former government and we've seen a big increase in the number of Australians getting their GP appointment for free. It is estimated that some 360,000 additional GP consults were bulk-billed in the first two months of this policy, saving Australians some $15 million in gap fees—$15 million!

I see the member for Deakin, who was so concerned about the cost of living, during his bluster and bluffing earlier, has now left the chamber. In his electorate—

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