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

I'm happy to see that the member for McPherson is concerned about the cost of living and interest rates for Australians and that he has presented us the opportunity to talk about these issues in this chamber. However, I think a more efficient use of the member's time would have been to discuss this with his own shadow treasurer, who has gone on record in parliament as saying, 'We need to create the policy settings to progressively increase interest rates.' He's been consistent on this, also stating, 'Nobody wins from low interest rates.' I wonder what Australians think about that. And, earlier this year, the shadow Treasurer was forced to back down when he declared he no longer supported the twin objectives of the Reserve Bank, with the ultimate effect of the changes he was proposing being a climb in unemployment and climbs in interest rates.

Compulsory superannuation is one of the greatest ways people are able to secure their retirement and future. It was introduced under the Keating Labor government and strengthened under the Albanese Labor government, who lifted the compulsory contribution to 12 per cent. If the member for McPherson is so concerned about people working later into their lives, I'm sure he must have been outraged when the Abbott government froze the superannuation guarantee at 9½ per cent, which was then continued by successive coalition governments—a repeated failure to help workers secure their futures. So forgive me if I'm a bit shocked by the hypocrisy on display here from those opposite.

But doesn't this just show who the coalition are deep down? They've got no policy, no solutions—not even a consistent ideology anymore. They have stood against every piece of cost-of-living relief implemented by this government. Their only ideology is opposition—no meaningful progress for older Australians, no meaningful assistance for our younger Australian and no support for those in our cities or out in our regional areas. In the crisis we see now, in which the Albanese government has taken strong action to secure the supply of fuels and supplies to Australia, all we have seen the opposition do is play politics. They call for urgent responses and then do everything they can to delay those responses and delay assistance to Australians across the country, including our farmers. It appears the only farming the coalition is interested in these days is clip farming.

But let's compare that approach with that of this side of the chamber. We're backing another pay rise for minimum wage and award-reliant workers to help with the cost of living. My first job was at my local Big W down in Woden. I'm speaking from firsthand experience when I say that these pay increases matter and help improve the lives of so many people across my community. The only workplace policies that we've seen the coalition promise are cutting 41,000 workers from our Public Service, particularly in my land of Bean and right across the Canberra region, and providing taxpayer funded lunches for bosses.

On this side of the chamber, we've just marked 12 months since introducing tax cuts for 14 million Australians—14 million Australians who are better off under this government than they would have been under a government led by those opposite, because those opposite committed to revoking those tax cuts. What can I say about that except, 'Fantastic; great move—well done, Angus!'?

But it's not just about pay increases and it's not just about superannuation; it's about investing in other services. Just last Friday in my electorate, we announced major investments in the ACT to secure more access to bulk-billing for people across Canberra, including an additional two bulk-billing GP clinics in my electorate of Bean. These new clinics, in the Molonglo Valley and southern Tuggeranong will help ensure that, when families in my community need health care, they can fully access it without having to worry about their hip pockets. This is what action on the cost of living looks like.

The Albanese government is there to support our community, and it's committed to helping Australians in these trying times. We want to see Australians thrive and help them earn more and to keep more of what they earn.

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