Madonna Jarrett (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I wholeheartedly reject the motion that's been moved by the member for Fadden, and some of the comments just made by the member for Casey. We on this side of the House do know that Australians are doing it tough at the moment, and that's why the priority for our 2026 budget has been to continue to roll out responsible cost-of-living relief for people across Brisbane and Australia. The budget is about making our economy more resilient and about introducing some big reforms that start to address the intergenerational inequalities, especially when it comes to housing, particularly young people being locked out of the housing market by unfair tax incentives for others.

We're cutting taxes for 13 million workers, so the average working Australian will be about $2,800 better off every year. Conflict far from home is pushing up prices here, from the servo to the supermarket, so we're delivering more tax cuts from 1 July for every Australian taxpayer. More tax cuts are rolling out now, an extra $250 off working Australian's tax bills permanently. Some might say that that's not enough, but I say, when I speak to people from my electorate, 'every little bit helps'. A $1,000 instant tax deduction without receipts makes it easier for people. And on top of that, we're cutting fuel taxes to help save Australians money.

We're also making health care more accessible and more affordable. A sudden fever or an unexpected injury can turn into bills that people just aren't ready for. That's why we've delivered the urgent care clinics and are ensuring that they remain a permanent part of our Medicare system.

Young people are also at the centre of this budget. They're telling us that they feel the dream of homeownership is disappearing for their generation. When you work and you save hard, you should be able to buy a home of your own but the current system is skewed against that. We have delivered the five per cent deposit scheme for first homebuyers, and we're building 100,000 homes set aside just for them. But right now, first homebuyers are being priced out of the property market because of investors being backed by tax breaks like negative gearing. We're levelling that playing field. We had to do something. People were asking me and telling me about the difficulties they're facing across our electorate.

Mary-Cait is one. In fact, Mary-Cait, who I spoke to no more than three or four days ago, had moved from Brisbane to Ipswich to Toowoomba and wanted to settle in Brisbane. Eventually, under the five per cent deposit scheme, she has found a safe and permanent home in the Brisbane electorate. She said, 'It's not just a safe roof over my head and that of my family's. It makes me feel settled and it enables me to build my community.'

This budget is also putting an extra $2 billion into infrastructure needed to build more homes more quickly. It's part of what we need to do to build those 1.2 million homes over the next five years. But we are living in an uncertain world—there's no question about it—which is why we're investing to buy more fuel and fertiliser now. We'll grow our national reserves of jet fuel and diesel to 50 days by keeping more fuel here and by making gas companies reserve 20 per cent of their exports for Australia. We are making sure that we're better prepared for future energy shocks. But no matter what's happening in the world, these changes are all about remaining focused on helping Australians here at home.

Making sure hard work pays off and everyone has the opportunity to get ahead is what's important to this government.

This budget comes on top of a lot of reforms we've already delivered: a tax cut for every taxpayer; pay rises for all minimum and award wage workers, taking total increases under Labor to over $9,000 a year; an extension to paid parental leave to 24 weeks; superannuation paid on government paid parental leave; a $10,000 bonus for housing apprentices to top up their wages, to encourage more skilled workers in a sector that is greatly needed; 30 per cent off home batteries; paid pracs for nurses, teaching, social worker and midwifery students; a boost to Medicare, with $1.8 billion in extra hospital funding; more choice, lower cost and high-quality health care for Australian women; the expanded five per cent deposit scheme; pay rises for aged-care nurses; the expansion of bulk-billing; a freeze on the draft beer excise and 20 per cent cuts to student debt. We've opened more Medicare urgent care clinics—50, in fact—including one in my electorate. From 1 January, we have delivered the next stage in our plan to make the biggest cut to the cost of medicine in the history of the PBS: $25 or less is all that it will cost.

The government understands that people are doing it tough. Imagine how much harder it would have been for the people of Brisbane had these cost-of-living measures not been put in place. We're working hard. We're looking after the people of Queensland and Australia.

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