Jess Teesdale (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today as both a teacher, who cares for children across Australia, and a representative of a regional community. Our test is simple: Are Australians better off today when they open their tax return? When they check their mortgage statement? When they search for a job? Those opposite are crying 'spending spree', but Australians are seeing the reality. They see a government that is delivering tax cuts, driving down energy costs over the long term, backing record job creation and helping ease mortgage pressure. That's not a spree; that's a strategy. That's not chaos; that's a plan. I understand that is unfamiliar to those opposite.

When we look at energy options, the choice could not be clearer. We stick with a volatile, ageing fossil fuel system, or we invest in clean cheaper renewables that cut bills over time. Griffith University research shows that if we had stayed reliant solely on coal and gas, the cost of generating electricity would be 50 per cent higher today. I really want that to sink in—every power bill would be higher; every family and small business would pay the price. Fifty per cent is a big difference. Numbers are tricky though.

The CSIRO confirms that renewables with transmission and storage included are the cheapest form of new energy generation in Australia. It's not ideology; it's engineering, it's economics and it's evidence. And households are feeling the difference. We know that the Australian Energy Market Commission projects that electricity prices could be 13 per cent lower over the next decade if our renewable rollout continues as planned. We know the Australian Energy Regulator reports that wholesale prices have been falling since late 2022, thanks to cheaper fuel, more renewables and decisive government action. This is real progress and, while we don't pretend a decade of neglect can be fixed overnight, we are doing the hard yards to build a secure and affordable energy future. That's what we do. We build for the long-term, just like we did with Medicare, and now we can't actually imagine an Australia without it.

The government's record on job creation and growth is also something that, like Medicare, we should all be celebrating. More than 1.1 million jobs have been created since we came to government, the strongest single-term job creation on record. It's actually also the lowest average unemployment rate of any government in 50 years. That's not a slogan; that is the ABS talking. More Australians are in work than ever before, and we're not stopping there.

We're backing fee-free TAFE, we're rebuilding advanced manufacturing and we're investing in those clean energy jobs, because these important and very well paying jobs of tomorrow can be done by people here, across Australia, in Burnie, in Devonport and in La Trobe, when we put in place the right training opportunities.

We've also delivered tax cuts for every single Australian taxpayer—one this year, another in 2026 and another in 2027. By the 2027-2028 financial year there's going to be an average of $2,500 extra in people's pockets every year. We're supporting people to earn more and keep more of what they earn, and we're doing it fairly. I do wish to compare that to those opposite, who actually made a vow—something that we do in marriage—to undo our tax cuts and take that money away from people.

Australians are doing it tough, and we know that there are many external threats that are impacting us right now. That's why rate relief matters. Our Reserve Bank has cut interest rates three times this year, and I can tell you that, on my schoolteacher salary, that is a huge impact to families. Depending on your loan, the cuts are actually saving households hundreds of dollars a month, and that would not have happened without the work and planning done by the Albanese Labor government.

We are delivering for the people of Bass. We are delivering for the people of Australia, and they know what this government stands for: cheaper power bills in the long-term; more secure, better paid jobs; tax cuts for every Australian; mortgage relief when it's needed most. We're not chasing headlines; we're delivering outcomes. It's not a spending spree; it's a nation-building plan.

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