David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Goldstein for bringing forward this important issue in his own special way. The fight to bring down the cost of living is front and centre for my constituents in Bean every day, and I'm happy to tell them that the Albanese Labor government is right alongside them in that fight. That is why the Albanese Labor government is introducing real, practical assistance in approaches that work to help local families every day. We have delivered tax cuts for every taxpayer, with a further tax cut coming this July. We have consistently supported pay rises for all minimum-award-rates workers and re-energised enterprise bargaining for fairer pay for all workers and their families. We have changed the architecture of workplace relations.

We have also made generational investments into affordable and accessible health and education. In December, the Woden Valley, in my electorate, welcomed the opening of the ACT's newest Medicare urgent care clinic. It's located at 33 Colbee Court in Phillip and offers free, GP-led health care, without an appointment, seven days a week. This clinic joins pre-existing clinics in Tuggeranong, Weston Creek, Dickson, Belconnen and Gungahlin, across the territory. Labor's Medicare urgent care clinics have already seen more than 2.2 million presentations since the first sites opened in June 2023. This new clinic in Woden will ensure that those numbers continue to climb and that all those who need medical treatment are able to receive it without having to worry about the cost.

Our commitment to the health and wellbeing of Australians doesn't stop there, with agreements reached last week that will see the ACT receive an additional $557 million boost to hospital funding, alongside additional funding of $75 million to assist with the challenges of being a smaller jurisdiction. This is part of a package of over $4 billion in the ACT, allowing affordable and timely access to quality health care for all. It has already been one month since the Albanese Labor government made medicines on the PBS just $25—the biggest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS. This means that people in my electorate of Bean are now paying less for medicines they rely on every day. That is real, practical assistance.

We are also backing Australia's students and young people. Labor promised to cut student debt, and now the Albanese Labor government is delivering. Australians with student debt, including HECS-HELP, VET and TAFE loans, will have seen a 20 per cent reduction—no applications, no forms, just real cost-of-living relief. We have made free TAFE permanent, opening the door to secure work for more young people, and increased the HECS and HELP loan repayment threshold so students get to keep more of what they earn before repayments kick in.

We are paying students on prac for key degrees such as nursing, midwifery and social work, so they are able to complete their training without economic stress. We are boosting support for apprentices, delivering a $10,000 bonus to housing-construction and clean-energy apprentices so that more tradies can finish their training, as those cost pressures can flow through to the construction sector. These are real, practical measures that are assisting those in my community and those right across Australia.

I would like to remind the member for Goldstein and those opposite that, at every moment they were presented with an opportunity to assist the Australian people with the cost of living, they said no. They said no to Medicare urgent care clinics, they said no to lower HECS debts and fee-free TAFE, they said no to tax cuts for all Australians and they said no to energy relief. When the Albanese government first came into power, inflation had a six in front of it and interest rates had begun to rise. If only those opposite had cared so deeply about this issue when they were last in government! It took the Albanese government to get these pressures under control, and we are focused on continuing that work with the Australian people.

On this side of the chamber, we are united in the face of the challenges that affect the Australian people and are taking concrete steps to address the rapidly changing international economic climate. There is more work to do in 2026, and I hope those opposite will join us rather than talking endlessly about themselves and opposing every practical measure that is helping take pressure off the Australian people.

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