Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

It's a real pleasure to be able to stand here today and talk about the cost-of-living measures that we, on this side of the House, are voting for. It's almost ironic to hear the Leader of the National Party say that if we were in touch with the Australian people we would do better. Perhaps, if they were in touch with the Australian people, they'd stop talking about themselves and actually focus on what people sent you here to do. They sent you here, and they didn't ask you to hold up a pamphlet. They didn't ask you to talk about backroom deals on media outlets. They asked you to come here and talk about what matters to them, and what matters to them is how governments respond when people are in crisis. That's exactly what we've done.

We voted to cap gas prices. We voted to cap electricity prices. Those opposite voted against that, against real cost-of-living measures. We voted on energy bill relief. They voted against that. We voted to reduce PBS medicine prices. They voted against that. When we talk about people being driven by ideology, perhaps it's time those on the opposition benches actually had a think about that, because what you are doing is continually voting on ideology rather than talking about what matters to the Australian people. What matters to the Australian people is that this place comes together at times and puts politics aside and says: 'What matters right now is how we get energy prices down. What matters right now is how we get PBS medicines cheaper. What matters right now is how we get more bulk-billing doctors. What matters right now is good education for our kids.'

Those things matter, and, on this side of the House, those things matter so much that we vote on them and we put money towards them. We don't talk about doctor shortages in our regions because we do things about it. Do you know how we do that? We waive HECS fees for doctors and nurse practitioners when they come out to rural and remote Australia for five years. We've waived HECS fees to make sure that young people can actually get into the housing market. We've created five per cent deposits for first home buyers, and that's working in our regions. More 17,000 across our regions have got into their first home because of the policies of this government. We're not talking about backroom deals. We're not talking about media opportunities. We're getting on with the real world and real life for many Australians.

Today the member for Maranoa was in the media again talking about how his party might or might not get back together with the Liberal Party. I'm a bit over it, to be honest. I don't care. We're getting on with the issue of delivering for Australians across the country. I was in the media this morning talking with the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the member for Leichardt and the member for Braddon about how we can help regional and remote councils with support after the Rex administration. We're getting on with the job. We announced $5 million to help those regional and rural councils impacted by the Rex administration because we focused on what's in front of us. I'm proud to be a part of a government that is not only focusing on important issues like regional aviation but also talking about investing billions in remote, rural and regional Australia and investing in talking about the things that matter to the people who live there instead of talking about ourselves and little else.

We know people are under pressure, and we know there is more that needs to be done. It'd be great if that was the focus of every member of this parliament at this point in time, but we know it's not. We're supporting real wages to grow. We're delivering tax cuts for every taxpayer, including another tax cut in July. We're delivering cheaper medicine, as I said. On 1 January this year we saw the largest ever cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS. We're taking the price of medicines back to $25. The last time it was that price was in 2004, when the coalition was actually a party that came together and agreed on things.

We're investing more in bulk-billing doctors. We want to see more people go to a doctor and be bulk billed. We've invested in Medicare urgent care clinics, which is a massive game changer across our communities. They are free, timely and high-quality care that thousands of Australians are getting. Over 120 urgent care clinics have opened, with 39 of those in regional, rural and remote areas. Last weekend, the latest Medicare urgent care clinic to open was in the heart of Bega, in Eden-Monaro. It's at 61 Carp Street, Bega. It's open now, with extended hours, seven days a week. There is no need for an appointment. You can walk in and get the service. I've already had a number of people contact my office who used the service over the weekend for the first time. Strengthening Medicare and making health care more accessible and affordable should be the job of all of us, but we know it's only the government that ever invests in Medicare here.

Whether it's home batteries, cheaper child care or home-care packages, we have to make sure we invest in them. Those opposite might call those things reckless spending, but they make a difference to every Australian's life—whether you live in metropolitan Australia or you're part of the one-third of Aussies who live outside metropolitan Australia.

We know how important it is to make sure that we're getting more tradies into our system. I know firsthand—my husband's a tradie and my dad was a tradie. We're delivering $10,000 payments to housing apprentices to make sure that we are incentivising people to take up those roles. We know it's required. When we came to government in 2022, the largest skills gap ever inherited by any government on record was ours because those opposite didn't invest in TAFE or universities.

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