Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think it's so interesting that the member for Flynn decided to open up his grandiose speech with quotes from Oliver Cromwell. Specifically, when we think about the 'Rump Parliament' speech of Oliver Cromwell, what was that all about? It was ostensibly about the frustration that Cromwell had at the time with the parliament's endless debate and talk and lack of action and progress at the other end. I think it is so ironic that the member for Flynn decides to bring this up, because the member for Flynn is part of a party that talks a lot about tax cuts but voted against a tax cut. The member for Flynn is part of a party that talks a lot about housing and getting housing for our young people, yet has absolutely no plan to get a house to a young person. On top of that, when they were in government, they didn't even have a housing minister for most of the time. The member for Flynn talks a lot about cost of living, but he's part of a political party that has voted against every single cost-of-living measure that the Albanese Labor government has put forward. I think what the member for Flynn needs, when we talk about that speech in particular, is to note that ye are in need of some great self-reflection.

Nearly two weeks ago we stood in this chamber and heard the Treasurer handing down the 2026-27 budget. It's a budget that delivers what Australia needs right now. It's responsible, it implements real reform and it's about making sure the economy works better for more Australians, not just a few. It doesn't matter where you go in my local electorate on Brisbane's south side, whether it's a barbecue in Tarragindi, whether it's on the doors in Annerley, whether it's an event in Sunnybank, whether it's on a street corner in Acacia Ridge, everyone raises the same challenges that they and their families are facing again and again and again. Those challenges are housing and cost of living.

Labor is providing more cost-of-living relief for households while also setting up for the future. We're focused on increasing productivity, improving the tax system, making the housing market fairer and strengthening the budget so that it's sustainable over the long term. That's what these times demand. The challenges facing Australians—issues such as the younger generation trying to access housing and being able to realise the dream that so many of us had before this moment, and the rising costs at the checkout and at the bowser—need to be addressed, and they need to be addressed now. That's why we're rolling out new tax cuts for workers. That's why we're helping more people get into their own homes, investing in Medicare and making it easier to build, run a business and, indeed, invest. All of this is about creating a stronger, fairer economy that gives more people a chance to get ahead. It addresses the key issues that the constituents of Moreton raise with me: health, housing, cost of living.

Which free-of-charge service in Moreton has been visited over 16,000 times in just the last 18 months? The answer is the Medicare urgent care clinic at Oxley. I know firsthand how incredibly useful this service is. Our toddler has been there numerous times, each time receiving timely, thorough and reassuring attention from the medical team there. Thanks to this budget, this crucial southside service is here to stay, and so are the other 134 Medicare urgent care clinics around this nation. An additional $1.8 billion will be invested over five years from 2025-26, and over $579 million a year ongoing from 2030-31, to keep Medicare urgent care clinics open and free for the Australian people. Why is this so important? Because Medicare urgent care clinics provide free walk-in care for urgent health issues, with no appointment needed. They're open seven days a week with extended hours, making it easier for people to get help when they need it most. The medical teams at these clinics can treat a wide range of non-life threatening conditions and industries that still need prompt attention such as cuts, infections or sprains.

And it's not just Oxley, on the south side of Brisbane; the member for Griffith and I held a barbecue in Annerley just a couple of weeks ago to bring people together to get a taste of the Cornwall Street urgent care clinic. That brought in families with their stories of how they had been helped by being able to access local urgent care at zero cost with just their Medicare card. They take the pressure off hospital emergency departments so hospitals can focus on treating the most serious and life-threatening cases. Another two urgent Medicare clinics are due to open by the end of next month. Of these clinics, 47 are in rural and regional Australia, meaning that when all clinics are open four out of five Australians will be able to access a clinic within just a 20-minute drive—and, remember, when you get there, all you need is that little green card.

Speaking of Medicare cards, there are now 26 fully bulk-billed general practices in my local seat of Moreton. This is an increase of 12 since Labor's historic investment to bolster Medicare. Whether you're going to the Beaudesert Road surgery in Moorooka or to the GP just across the road from Chardons Corner, in Annerley, there are clinics that were formerly mixed-billing that are now fully bulk-billing because of the investment the Albanese Labor government has made.

Quarterly data released today indicates that the national GP bulk-billing rate was 81.9 per cent for the January to March quarter—an increase of nearly five per cent from the same time last year. This is having an absolutely real impact in our local communities, and there are now over 3,800 Medicare bulk-billing practices around Australia.

Australians have also been able to access cheaper medicines. As at the end of April there have been over 2.7 million cheaper scripts in Moreton alone since Labor rolled out its cheaper-medicines initiative. Just the other day I got to visit one of the pharmacies where those $25 scripts are being handed out, the Urunga TerryWhite Chemmart. Not only do you get greeted by a smile; when you put your card across the pharmacy, if it's a PBS medicine all you'll ever pay is 25 bucks.

This budget invests an additional $5.9 billion to list new medicines on the PBS. This includes treatments for serious and ongoing conditions such as cystic fibrosis, chronic kidney disease and a range of cancers, helping ensure patients can access the medicines they need without facing overwhelming costs. I got to visit one of them in Corinda. The pharmacist in Corinda showed me Yaz, and she told me that, before Yaz was on the PBS, people used to pay 80 bucks for it—and now it's down to 25 bucks, an enormous saving and one of the first times in a long time that that kind of medication has gone onto the PBS. It also includes permanently reducing the cost of COVID-19 oral antiviral medicines, making it easier and more affordable for people to get timely treatment when they need it. Since 1 July 2022, the Albanese Labor government has funded 437 new or amended PBS medicines. Again, this is a real example of proper cost-of-living support.

When it comes to housing, this budget is squarely aimed at getting more homes built and making it easier for Australians, particularly for young Australians, to get into the housing market. We're investing $2 billion in a new local infrastructure fund to help councils and utilities deliver the basics that we need for new housing—for things like roads, water, power and sewerage, which will unlock up to 65,000 homes over the next decade. When you speak to people in my electorate, it's not just young people who are concerned about housing; it's families who are trying to get into their first home. It's older people who are worried that their kids will never realise the dream that they were able to have when they were growing up. It's people who have had to start over and now need to get back into the market. That's why we're making sure that more homes are available for Australians by extending the ban on foreign investors buying existing homes to mid-2029. For renters, we're continuing to work with states and territories to strengthen renters' rights, and, importantly, there's also targeted support for those doing it the toughest.

At the same time, Labor is making changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, which are expected to help about 75,000 more Australians to buy their own home over the next decade. Changing the way that negative gearing and the capital gains tax work will make the housing system fairer and will make it more balanced, because, frankly, the interaction between the housing market and the tax system is broken. Right now, it ain't working, and we need to do something about it. If the system isn't getting outcomes for people to be able to get into their own homes, we need to take action, and this is a government that takes that responsibility very seriously. Changing the way negative gearing and the capital gains tax work will make the housing system fairer and will make it more balanced. Changes to the CGT will see the current arrangements replaced with cost base indexation and a minimum 30 per cent tax rate on capital gains. This is something that is needed now, because, when you talk to people in our communities, they know that housing is an issue now. It comes in response to long-term trends in the housing market and the fact that we know that there are significant supply issues over decades and decades. This is about making sure that we are not only addressing the issues in our tax system but also backing it up with investment in long-term housing to fix this issue. What didn't fix it when the coalition were in government was not having a housing minister. What didn't fix it when the coalition were in government was failing to build homes when we had the opportunity. And what didn't fix it was voting against a tax cut for every taxpaying Australian. The reforms are designed to address these pressures and to improve access for young Australians.

If I had to summarise Labor's approach to fixing the housing crisis we received from those opposite, I would say that it's about building more homes, I would say that it's about building them more quickly, I would say that it's about making the system fairer, and I would say that it's about ensuring that more Australians have a safe and secure place to live.

Before I conclude my speech, there is one other very important local element of the budget which I'd like to highlight. Boundary Road in my electorate of Moreton is a key east-west artery. It links Archerfield, with its concentration of manufacturing, logistics and transport companies, with the residents and myriad of small businesses of Robertson and Sunnybank—and then on through to the M1 motorway. Smack-bang in-between those two suburbs lies Coopers Plains. Boundary Road takes drivers across a level crossing with three train tracks. Approximately 200 trains on the Beenleigh and Gold Coast lines pass through that crossing daily. Each time the boom gates are lowered, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians endure lengthy delays, particularly during the morning and afternoon peak traffic times. In my community, we are absolutely sick of it. This crossing has regularly been identified as one of the most problematic in Queensland. Train drivers ranked it among the state's worst level crossings. As far back as 2012, it was identified as one of the top 6 priority crossings requiring attention, and then, in 2019, the Queensland Rail Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model ranked it within the three most dangerous crossings in the state. I, myself, remember going to that crossing, holding placards and campaigning for it to be fixed. This is borne out in the incident record. Twenty-eight boom strikes were recorded at the site between 2009 and 2016, and a total of 101 incidents were documented between 2004 and 2011.

So you can see that local residents and the thousands of drivers who go across that crossing daily have been waiting for a long time for this to be resolved. The federal government already committed $179.5 million in 2022 to build an overpass, and I'm very proud that in the 2026-27 budget, it includes an additional $99.7 million so that the Queensland state government can deliver this vital project. It's not about infrastructure in and of itself. It's about making everyday life easier and getting my community home to their families safer and faster.

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