Emma Comer (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It has been just four months since the Albanese government was elected for a second term, and we have hit the ground running in delivering for all Australians.

Labor is united and focused on a commitment to build Australia's future not just for the privileged few but for all. Australians were in the back seat for almost a decade while the coalition fought over the steering wheel. Now Labor's driving, seatbelt on, fuel tank full. Where are we headed? To a future built for all of us, where support reaches every Australian in every city, every suburb, every town and every region. We're easing cost-of-living pressures, strengthening Medicare, protecting jobs and investing in a stronger, fairer nation.

I want to highlight some of our recent achievements that are delivering for health care, workers and the economy. From 1 January all medicines on the PBS will be capped at $25. This will save millions of dollars for millions of Australians. For women, we are delivering more choice, lower costs and better access to health care. We're boosting the number of health practitioners qualified to provide birth-control implant services, particularly in regional, rural and remote locations, including Taree. For men, we're investing $32 million in initiatives that support men's mental health and wellbeing and break the stigma around seeking support.

We believe that all you should have to take with you to seek medical support is your Medicare card, and we are taking decisive steps to make this a reality. We're building a healthcare system that works for every Australian. I challenge anyone on the other side to prove it and show they don't have a Medicare card. Australians know only Labor will keep Medicare strong, and we are working hard to prove them right every single day.

We're also supporting Australian workers. As of 1 July, we delivered a 3.5 per cent pay rise for minimum and award-wage workers. We are finally seeing pay packets move in the right direction after almost a decade of wages falling behind under the coalition. From retail staff and hospitality workers to cleaners and carers—this boost means families can get ahead, pay bills and plan for the future. We're also strengthening penalty rates. Penalty rates are not a luxury; they are the difference between paying rent and falling behind. We legislated to protect penalty rates, supporting the retail and hospitality workers who keep our economy going.

Labor is also supporting young people. Young Australians deserve opportunity, not a lifetime of debt. That's why we're cutting student debts by 20 per cent. This will make a world of difference for students and graduates right across the country, from regional TAFEs to city universities. Less debt means more opportunity to get ahead in life, go after your dream career and buy a home.

Speaking of homeownership, every Australian deserves the security of owning a home. We're allowing first home buyers, especially young families and single parents, to enter the housing market with just a five per cent deposit, so they can pay off their own mortgage rather than continuing to pay off someone else's. Labor is also investing in multicultural communities, funding language services, supporting festivals and backing community centres that bring people together. We stand with every Australian who has built a life here and calls this country home.

While Labor proudly stands with all Australians under our national flag and the flags of our First Nations peoples, the former opposition leader couldn't even bring himself to stand in front of them. That is a failure of leadership. That is a rejection of the very values of unity and belonging that our nation was built on, and that is something Australia firmly rejected on 3 May. Labor will never walk away from our flags, from our democracy or from the communities who have built this country brick by brick and generation by generation.

I want to end on a lighter note and express my pride in how Labor is delivering for people like me—the beer drinkers of Australia. It may sound small, but for small pubs and breweries across the country, in cities and regional areas such as Taree, freezing beer tax has been a big win. It helps keep local businesses strong and keeps a cold beer at the end of the day—after a long day, actually—affordable.

In just four months, the Albanese Labor government has done more to ease the cost of living, strengthen Medicare and invest in our future than the coalition did in nearly a decade. This is what delivering for all Australians looks like, and this is only the beginning.

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