Madonna Jarrett (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australians spoke pretty loudly at the last election, and the make-up of the chamber pretty much tells that story. Why? Because they wanted to see cost-of-living pressures reduced, and they didn't want to see a $600 billion nuclear fantasy—which is, incidentally, a very big spend. I think many members in this House would agree that, during the campaign, cost of living was the No. 1 issue, and in my electorate it didn't matter whether it was Seb, who was studying at university, or the young couple trying to buy a house or even retired Ray, who was gardening when I dropped by. Our No. 1 priority was helping Australians with the cost of living, raising the standard of living, and we make no apologies for that.

Let's look at what we've already done: tax cuts for every Australian, $300 in energy bill relief for every Australian household, and $325 for small business. We've tripled the bulk-billing incentive and restored bulk-billing to 11 million Australians, creating an additional six million bulk-billed GP visits. We've delivered cheaper medicines at a cost of $25. We've cut student debt, we've delivered free TAFE, we've delivered cheaper child care and we've delivered real wage increases for Australian workers. Not only did we see three consecutive pay rises for Australian workers on awards; we also delivered pay rises for aged-care and early childhood education and care workers. Who does this greatly benefit? Women, because women make up the majority of workers in those sectors.

But wait; there is more on the way. We will deliver new tax cuts for every taxpayer, we will deliver more energy bill relief, and we'll wipe 20 per cent off student debt—well, that's happening right now. We will deliver the biggest boost to Medicare, delivering those extra GP visits I mentioned. We're expanding the growing network of Medicare urgent care clinics across Australia, including one in Brisbane. We're making free TAFE permanent, and we're delivering affordable child care close to home.

In case you missed it, we're building the biggest ever house build. We want more Australians into their own home. We'll give first home buyers access to that five per cent deposit, which will start in October, and invest $10 billion to build up to 100,000 homes for sale to first home buyers only.

We're making the tax system simpler by delivering $1,000 instant tax deductions, and we're delivering our Cheaper Home Batteries Program to help with energy cost relief. We have also legislated to protect penalty rates in awards. That went through today, and I'm very proud of that. And we're ensuring that the wages of around three million workers do not go backwards, as they did under the opposition.

The shadow Treasurer hasn't really learnt anything from the election results. Australians made it loud and clear that they wanted action on cost of living. On this side of the House, we believe in helping one another while the opposition over there would rather focus on cuts. When Australians are hurting, it's the role of government to step in when we can.

Let me remind those opposite of their record when they left office. As the minister and others before me highlighted, Australia's budget was at its weakest point under the former Morrison-Joyce government. The coalition inflicted immense economic damage and inflation on Australian households and families. Their shameful record of waste and rorts led to skyrocketing inflation and interest rates. Households were under immense stress and pressure to make ends meet, yet the coalition continued to spend and mismanage Australia's finances. Despite this pressure on households, the Morrison government still decided on tax cuts that left behind people earning $45,000 a year or less. Where did they want their tax cuts to go? They went to the rich, to those who did not need it the most. Households were simply forgotten by the former coalition government.

Here we are today, under Labor, and more households are working and earning more, and they're keeping more of what they earn. Under this government, real wages are up, superannuation is strengthening, inflation is down, unemployment is low and incomes are growing. We won't be lectured by those opposite on how to lift living standards, nor on economic management. Your record speaks for itself. To use a previous speaker's words: what we do matters.

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