Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) | Hansard source

Let's deal with the claim. Let's deal with the topic of this matter of public importance straight up. Nothing could be further from the truth. I've been self-employed. I've worked in the private sector. My colleague has worked in the private sector. So many here have worked in the private sector. On this side of the House, we understand the economy, we understand our society and we're working to protect all Australians. We believe in building an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. We believe in easing cost-of-living pressures so Australians can keep more of what they earn and afford more of what matters to them and their families. And, on this side of the House, we believe in fiscal responsibility.

Good economic management is not measured by slogans or scare campaigns. It's measured by whether jobs are being created, whether wages are growing, whether bulk-billing is growing, whether medicines are cheaper and whether a government is prepared to make decisions needed to secure Australia's future. On every one of those measures, the Albanese Labor government is delivering. Just five days ago, S&P Global reaffirmed Australia's triple A credit rating. At a time when many countries are facing economic uncertainty and fiscal pressures, it's a recognition that Australia has a government managing the economy responsibly, making disciplined decisions and maintaining confidence in our nation's finances.

Global economic pressures are real. The impacts of global inflation surge, international conflict, supply-chain disruptions and economic uncertainty have been felt right around the world, and it would be deceitful of those opposites to not acknowledge that Australian families have felt those pressures too. The question is not whether those challenges exist; the question is how governments respond. Do you provide meaningful relief while maintaining fiscal discipline? We've managed the budget responsibly. We've been able to provide real cost-of-living relief and another tax cut that those opposite opposed—another tax cut just now for Australian taxpayers. When the budget is managed responsibly, we can provide real cost-of-living relief while keeping the nation's finances strong.

We've delivered, as I said, tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer, and Australians will receive another round of tax relief next year. That's real relief for workers and families. As a pharmacist, I'm particularly proud of our cheaper medicines reforms. This is real reform. In my electorate of Dobell alone, those reforms have saved local residents around $16.6 million. That's $16.6 million. The last time medicines cost $25 on the PBS was in 2004, more than 20 years ago, early in my career as a community pharmacist. We've frozen the cost of PBS medicines at no more than $25 and $7.70 for concession card holders. We've already saved Australians around $2.9 billion in out-of-pocket costs because of that freeze, and we've added or expanded more than 400 medicines to the PBS. That's real cost-of-living relief. As Diane from Noraville in my electorate said—and she's an aged pensioner—this really helps when you're a pensioner. This really helps. This is real cost-of-living relief. This is money staying in the pockets of Australian families, pensioners and patients. We've expanded paid parental leave. We've increased the minimum wage. We've strengthened Medicare. We've made urgent care clinics a permanent part of our health system. We've done all of this while reducing debt and helping bring inflation under control.

That is what responsible economic management looks like. It doesn't look like scare campaigns. This is what responsible economic management looks like. Let's compare that with the record we inherited.

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