Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today's matter of public importance is about the government's addictions. Today I proudly rise to share with this House the many, many addictions of the Albanese Labor government—and a word of warning: there is no cure for these addictions. There is no medication, no pill and no therapy that could cure these addictions, and I am proud of that.

This government is addicted to providing cost-of-living relief to all Australians. It is addicted to creating an environment where the aspirations of working families are met. It is addicted to listening to the needs of young people as they take steps to educate themselves, start their careers, save to buy a home and raise a family. This government is absolutely addicted to improving health outcomes for all Australians in our cities and in our regions. It is proudly addicted to continuing to invest in and strengthen Medicare so that more Australians have access to primary and preventive health care—and there is definitely no cure for that addiction.

This government is addicted to making sure that women are heard when it comes to their health needs and is addicted to making investments to ensure that those health needs are adequately met. The Albanese Labor government is also addicted to cheaper medicines and addicted to reducing the cost of medications for all Australians to just $25 so that they can access the health care that they deserve without having to cut corners. It is addicted to opening more urgent care clinics and Medicare mental health clinics, addicted to training more doctors and nurses, addicted to paid prac for students enrolled to study to become nurses, addicted to paid prac for students enrolled in study to become teachers. You cannot cure us of this addiction; we are very proud of this addiction.

This government is addicted to the proposition that education lifts people out of poverty, affords them opportunities to contribute to their communities and to provide for their families. This addiction has manifested in the government's initiative to wipe 20 per cent of student debt, which the Prime Minister announced in my electorate of Sturt and which will benefit over 25,000 people living in that electorate.

It also manifests in the government's addiction to free TAFE. I saw this addiction play out when I visited the Gilles Plains TAFE in Sturt and met Rachael, who is studying to become an enrolled nurse. Married with four children, Rachael was in her mid to late 40s and had spent the better part of 20 years caring for and raising her family. With her children at an age where they had more independence, Rachael wanted to do something for herself and for her community. Rachael told me she would not be able to study to become an enrolled nurse if it wasn't for free TAFE. She couldn't stop work to study full time and pay tuition. Free TAFE means that at the end of this year Rachael will qualify as an enrolled nurse and go out into the community to serve others. Rachael is being empowered by her education, and empowering people through education is something this government is proudly addicted to.

Now, when Rachael goes out into the workforce, earns an income and starts to pay tax she will benefit from another one of this government's addictions—lowering taxes for all working Australians. Lower taxes for all working Australians, not higher taxes for all Australians as those opposite proposed. The Albanese Labor government's addiction to lowering taxes for all working Australians will see the delivery of two more tax cuts to every Australian taxpayer in 2026 and 2027, adding to the first round of tax cuts that Labor delivered in July last year. Every Australian taxpayer gets another tax cut from next year—all 14 million, not just some.

Now, this addiction to lowering taxes was well observed, loudly and clearly, by the Australian people on 3 May 2025, and it's an addiction that was roundly accepted by the Australian people. It is an addiction that the Australian people never want to see cured.

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