Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

The world changed. Things that we didn't think could happen happened. A war on the other side of the planet impacted supply lines. Facebook changed the way we gathered information, changed the way we got our fuel, changed the way we got our fertiliser. This was potentially a crisis—a crisis that changed the way we had to approach business, a crisis that changed the way we approached the nation. So our government stepped in and did what it needed to do. It made sure the fuel arrived, made sure our truckies trucked, made sure our aeroplanes flew, made sure our valuable farmers got the crops into the ground to provide the food that we need to improve our exports and to keep Australia moving.

Tourism continued. People came and enjoyed the Great Barrier Reef, which now, with its additional environmental protections, will stay great. But what did those opposite do during this time? They talked it down, called for rationing and scared people. There was a marked decrease in tourism leading into Easter because words matter. But so do actions, and, on this side of the House, we do actions. Today is a great day for actions.

Paid parental leave—26 weeks. I spent a year with my little ones. There was no paid parental leave for me back then. That is the hardest work I've ever done in my life. A two-year-old and a newborn do not care for your wellbeing or your mental health, but I valued that time with them. I really did. I got to teach them to eat and watch their first steps. It was a time that I cherished so much, and we're giving that to families. They don't have to make that choice: work or family. You should have both. You deserve both. Australians deserve both.

The minimum wage is increasing by 4.75 per cent. That is a noticeable difference. People will feel that that in their hip pockets, and that money will flow on. People will have the confidence to go take the kids to a movie and make sure that the birthday party goes the way that it should. It is a fantastic thing. We will always back workers because the best form of cost-of-living relief is a job. That is why we can celebrate having the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years. For my intern Claudia, 50 years is before I was born! I am not 50. I am 47.

We're putting downward pressure on electricity prices. The home battery system is working. It is removing demand from the system and increasing supply. For too long, nothing was done about power supply in this country. It was completely ignored. It was, as Senator Bragg said, a vacated space for 20 years.

If you go back three years before the space was vacated, you get $25 scripts, something that we have proudly bought back in so people once again are not making a decision between health and food. Sometimes, particularly if you're on mental health pills, you cannot miss those scripts. They're very, very important. The surety to know how much they're going to cost and that they're not to be an impost, particularly now with 60-day scripts as well, makes life a bit easier. It makes that budgeting a little bit easier and makes keeping on keeping on that little bit easier.

We're bringing in tax cuts for every single working Australian. The average worker will be up to $2,800 a year better off. That's a holiday. That is a holiday in beautiful Far North Queensland with a trip to the reef and out to the Daintree and to the crocodile farm! That is what we're delivering: cost-of-living relief and great holidays in the Far North! I'm proud of what we've done here in our 12 months. I'm proud of what was done by this government before we got here, and I'm looking forward to how great this nation is going to be because we're going to put more first home owners into their own homes. They will own a piece of Australia. They will know that the country is theirs, and we will move on together.

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