Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

():  I thank the member for Monash for her question. Indeed, I hope that the member has the integrity to say that to the member who she asks about. To be fair to the member, she was not here, so she mightn't be aware, because it's pretty unbelievable that this Treasurer on budget night handed down a position to have top-up tax cuts—a tax cut this July and another tax cut next July—after this Treasurer came into the House and moved legislation to readjust the tax cuts to make sure that low- and middle-income earners got a fair crack, and it was taken from the top to give them a crack. That's what this Treasurer did. Now, it is unbelievable that, at the time, the shadow Treasurer that night of the budget went and did interviews and said that they were opposed to the tax cuts and then did AM the next morning and said that they would actually legislate if they were elected to increase the taxes of low- and middle-income earners in particular for all 14 million Australians. So I hope that the member for Monash told the constituent or the person mentioned in the Herald Sun that that was the case, because what we have done is understand that people are under financial pressure, but you can have two approaches to that. You can see grievance and try to just feed it, or what you can do is try to address it.

What we do is try to address it by lifting up cost-of-living measures. That's why we've provided energy bill relief. That's why we've provided cheaper medicines. That's why we've provided the 20 per cent cut in student debt. That's why we've tripled the bulk-billing incentive. That's why we've opened Medicare urgent care clinics. That's why we have cheaper medicines. That's why we have a batteries program to assist with reducing energy bills as well. All of those measures are what we have done. The other thing we have done is provide, each and every single year that we have been in office, an increase in the minimum wage. Those opposite—the coalition, whoever has sat in the Liberal Party leadership chair—have never, ever put in a submission to the Fair Work Commission saying that wages should be increased for people on the minimum wage. That's the big difference. We want people to earn more and keep more of what they earn, and we want cost-of-living relief, all of it opposed by those opposite regardless of who sits at the front.

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