Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank my friend the member for Banks for bringing this motion to the House. Of course, today marks six months since the re-election of the Albanese Labor government. This is a privilege that we do not take for granted, and we know how much work there is to do to deliver on the policies that the Australian people voted for on 3 May. It's really important that our job as a government remains squarely focused on the people in our communities—on Australians and their issues. We're not interested in manufacturing culture wars or talking endlessly about our internal tensions; we as a team are just focused on delivering for all Australians, supporting aspirations and providing opportunities for all.

We've been hard at work, building on the strong foundations laid during our first term to create a better, fairer and more prosperous Australia for everyone. Over the first six months of this term, we've remained focused on those commitments we have made. I promised that the first law we would pass in the new parliament would be to cut student debt by 20 per cent, and that's exactly what we did, with over three million Australians saving an average of $5½ thousand. In my own electorate of Chisholm, 26,053 people benefited from this change, and that is one of the largest numbers of recipients among Victorian electorates. That shows just how important that policy is, and I'm really proud I was able to deliver for my community.

We're delivering real help with cost of living. We're making medicines cheaper, boosting the minimum wage, protecting penalty rates and expanding paid parental leave while adding superannuation to it, which is really critical for addressing the inequality that many women experience in their retirements. Just last week we introduced legislation to deliver superannuation payments on payday. This is going to make a really big difference too. It is a significant reform that will see young people, casual workers and women workers particularly advantaged. We're strengthening Medicare. We're making sure that every Australian can access quality, affordable health care when and where they need it, with the biggest investment in bulk-billing in Australian history and 50 new urgent care clinics to add to the 87 we've already opened around the nation. This takes pressure off hospitals and it helps more people see a doctor for free. We've delivered $500 million for women's health. We're investing in 31 new and upgraded Medicare mental health centres, expanding headspace centres and training more mental health professionals. We're making it easier for Australians to buy a home, with five per cent deposits for all first home buyers, and we're building more homes right across Australia.

Our plan is all about helping Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn, with secure jobs and responsible economic management that supports wage growth while cutting income taxes. Our government is focused on building Australia's future, easing cost-of-living pressures and building that prosperous future for all.

In my own electorate, I know how much our policies are benefiting the community. Since we've made medicines cheaper, more than $425 million has been saved in Victoria on 69 million cheaper scripts. This is saving money for our communities and protecting their health. We know that on Saturday many GP practices across the nation chose to become fully bulk-billing practices thanks to our record investment in Medicare. This is a really big deal and it is really important for our nation. I've had the Minister for Health and Ageing visit practices with me in my community, and I know what a difference this is going to make. We have our urgent care clinic in Mount Waverley, which I know is very well utilised, and we've got another to come in the Stonnington council area too. We will be getting a Medicare mental health clinic in Glen Iris to join the existing mental health infrastructure funded by our government, such as the headspace, which is just a couple of doors down from my office in Mount Waverley.

There are many other projects we're delivering too. When I'm here and when I'm in my community, I'm squarely focused on the delivery of the commitments I've made to my community. The coalition, those opposite, didn't seem to learn anything in the last six months. They're more divided and divisive than ever, but that's okay, because what I do every day is listen to my community and focus on delivering the commitments that I was really proud to campaign on earlier this year.

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