Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Albanese Labor government is making significant investments in women. How will the budget work to improve the lives of Australian women both now and into the future?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macquarie for her question and for her advocacy on behalf of her electorate, particularly her advocacy as a very strong voice for women—as part of a caucus in government which has a majority of women for the first time. I think it's no accident that there is a link between that and the budget we produced on Tuesday night, handed down by the Treasurer, with the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher's, mark all over it.

In our first budget, last October, we invested in cheaper child care and in paid parental leave. Cheaper child care was the largest on-budget commitment that we made in the election campaign, something that was in my first reply to the budget as opposition leader and in the era when opposition leaders actually had policies and put forward constructive ideas in budget replies. In this budget we have a 15 per cent rise also for aged-care workers, a sector dominated by women workers and part of our national strategy for the care economy. Tomorrow, I will be talking with workers in the aged-care sector, along with the minister, about the impact that this will have. It was a recommendation of the royal commission that we needed to address, the underpayment of workers in this sector, by and large women, whether they be nurses, orderlies, the cleaners, the people who work in that sector, and $11.3 billion was a substantial commitment to do just that.

We expanded the single-parent payment, helping 52,000 single mums. The increase in rent assistance will help single women, who are around half of the recipients. We abolished the ParentsNext program, which punished some of the most vulnerable women, and we provided additional support to people over 55 on JobSeeker, the majority of whom are women. We are working to close the gender pay gap, reforming workplace laws so it's easier to deliver pay rises for women in low-paid, undervalued sectors, and requiring companies to report on their gender pay gap.

We have made women's safety a national priority across two budgets. We have invested $2.29 billion to end domestic violence, and, of course, our Housing Australia Future Fund, which remains held up in the Senate by the coalition and the Greens political party, includes 4,000 new homes for women and children escaping domestic violence. We have a comprehensive plan for women because we want to be a government that represents all Australians. (Time expired)

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. This morning, Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said this when speaking about Labor's budget with Karl Stefanovic: 'Karl: So interest rates will be higher for longer? Bill Evans: That is the risk.' Will the Treasurer finally admit he is alone in saying that this budget will reduce inflation?

Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You quoted Bill Evans yesterday. He corrected the record.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Deakin will come to order.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This guy is truly the gift that keeps on giving, isn't he? If the shadow Treasurer had watched the whole conversation between Bill Evans and Karl Stefanovic, Karl asked Bill Evans, 'Have you changed your expectations for interest rates?' and he said, 'No.' I mean, seriously, help the guy out. Somebody point out to him that when Karl Stefanovic asked Bill Evans, 'Have you changed your expectations of interest rates into the future?' he said, 'No, I haven't changed them,' which is the point that I've been making ever since the budget was handed down. The other thing that the shadow Treasurer said—it's hard to keep a straight face with this bloke—and I'd just read out all of these economists who say that the impact on the budget, when it comes to inflation, is a good one or is broadly neutral, is that he tried to pretend that we are on our own. I'm happy to read them out again for you. JPMorgan says it may also make the RBA's like a bit easier. Alan Oster says it's predicted to be broadly neutral over coming years. Amy Auster:

The budget balances investment in health, cost-of-living relief, and aged care with the need to stimulate productivity without adding to our inflationary pressures.

Stephen Halmarick:

The move to surplus in 2022/23 represents a fiscal contraction that is helpful in moderating the inflation pulse …

The market hasn't moved since Tuesday when it comes to inflation and to interest rate expectations. Most important is something I didn't get the opportunity to mention in the answer before, so I'm pleased that he's very charitably given me the opportunity now. In the strange world that the shadow Treasurer occupies, the budget on Tuesday night that has a net spend over four years of $20 billion is inflationary, but the last budget that they handed down in March 2022 had a net spend of $39 billion. So they had a net spend which was twice the spend as the one on Tuesday night. In their world, $39 billion is not inflationary, as we're heading towards the peak in inflation, but $20 billion on the other side of the peak in inflation is somehow inflationary. This, old son, is why nobody takes you seriously.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll hear from the manager, but I think the Treasurer is going to beat you to the punch there.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are standing orders against offensive words and reflections on members. The Treasurer is a serial offender in showing a gross lack of respect. He ought to withdraw.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat. To assist the House, I'm giving the call to the Treasurer. I'm going to ask him to withdraw.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the most excellent Minister for Social Services.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! No. Resume your seat. We've had this before. Questions are asked to ministers directly, without any extras.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Understood, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Social Services. How is the Albanese Labor government supporting people that need it most through the budget as part of its $14.6 billion cost-of-living package?

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Solomon for that question and also for the great work he does representing the families of Darwin and Palmerston. We really appreciate his advocacy. The government, of course, understands that many Australians are doing it tough right now. They are feeling the pinch, and that's why we have delivered a responsible budget that carefully calibrated a balance of competing pressures. It does strike the right balance. We are providing substantial cost-of-living relief that also provides targeted support to people on the lowest incomes without adding to inflation.

As well as helping with power bills and a record investment in the bulk-billing incentive and cheaper medicines, our $14.6 billion cost-of-living plan includes responsible and targeted help for people doing it tough. We are strengthening the social safety net which many Australians rely on. The increases to JobSeeker, youth allowance, Abstudy and other eligible working payments will support those who rely on the safety net. We are giving extra support for older JobSeekers over 55, which will take the pressure off them as they face additional barriers to finding work. And we've provided the biggest increase to Commonwealth rent assistance in 30 years. We're recognising the work that single-parent households do by expanding eligibility to the single parent payment.

Our package of measures has been described as a 'life changing' by the Brotherhood of St. Laurence and 'taking steps to a fair Australia' by St Vincent de Paul. The ACTU has said these additional payments will be welcome relief to many parents, women and children doing it tough, and, of course, the National Australia Bank's Ross McEwan said:

We welcome Government action to lessen rising cost-of-living impacts on the most vulnerable Australians. It is a challenging balancing act to provide financial support without fuelling the inflation you're trying to reduce, which is why targeted measures are critical.

While the country comes together and welcomes this Labor government's budget, there is an important question for those opposite: will the Leader of the Opposition stand up tonight and support our cost-of-living relief? We know that those opposite stood in the way of energy relief for households right across the country, but the test tonight will be: will this Leader of the Opposition endorse our cost-of-living package that's targeted, that's well-calibrated and that will be welcomed by so many. What the Australian people want to hear tonight is 'yes' from this Leader of the Opposition, not the constant 'no'.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care. Economists from Deloitte, Access Economics, UBS, S&P Global Ratings, Betashares and EY have all warned that Labor's high-taxing, big-spending budget will raise inflation, risking further interest rate rises. This morning the minister said, 'This is a budget that will put downward pressure on inflation.' Can the minister explain how the budget will put downward pressure on inflation?

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for the question. It's not in my portfolio, but I'm happy to expand on what I discussed this morning. I was asked: how is this a budget that assists middle Australians? And I said, 'This is a budget for middle Australians because middle Australians are facing energy bills, middle Australians have children, middle Australians need to pay for medicines and middle Australians like to go to the doctor, preferably a bulk-billing doctor near where they live'. This is a cost-of-living budget with a $14.6 billion package designed to decrease the price of child care. I've had three kids in child care at the one time.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will pause. The question was about how the budget puts downward pressure on inflation. The minister is answering that, regarding examples and also regarding government policy. I will hear from the deputy leader, but I hope she was listening to what the minister was saying, otherwise I'll ask her to sit down as well.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Indeed I was. My point of order is on relevance because it was a tight question and it specifically went to the Minister's own quote that, 'the budget would put downward pressure on inflation'. My question was: how?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat. I do want to hear from the Leader of the House.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just to the point of order, the question does not relate to the minister's portfolio. The minister has taken it anyway. The minister, in answering the question, has been absolutely relevant to every aspect. The only objection from the shadow minister is that her question is being answered and she doesn't like the facts that are coming out.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll hear from the Manager of Opposition Business.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was suggested that it's not in the Minister's portfolio. It deals with the budget. The minister has responsibility for a portfolio which involves budgetary expenditure.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm going to keep things moving. The question was about comments the minister made about the budget regarding inflation. She's giving examples in her portfolio and broader government context. She can't really be more relevant than she is already being. I'm going to ask the minister to return to the question. I'm going to listen carefully to make sure she's reflecting what the member asked. I give her the call.

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was saying that I have three kids who are in child care and that, come 1 July, our decision to reduce the cost of child care for people makes a huge difference to the cost of living. We have made decisions to put downward pressure on the price of child care and downward pressure on the price of electricity bills, rather than the cash-splash bonanza that you lot tried to do when you had the levers of power.

We are making decisions to give subsidies to people on things like energy bills and childcare bills because that puts downward pressure on inflation.

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my left! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition has asked her question.

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're also giving a pay rise to aged-care workers to the value of $11.3 billion. That's an extra 140 bucks a week for personal carers or 200 bucks a week for registered nurses. Giving pay rises to people assists with their cost of living. That's a $14.6 billion package that I was talking about in my comments on Today this morning. This is a budget for middle Australia. That was the question that I was asked this morning. People who represent middle Australia, in the suburbs of Brisbane, have said to me, since Tuesday night, that they're grateful that they've got a government that is prepared to get the balance right between responsible decisions on spending and responsible decisions on saving. I am grateful for the fact that we have managed to find $36 billion in funding for aged care, an industry that has been neglected for nine long years. Aged-care workers are some of the most vulnerable workers in this country who suffer the cost of living first when inflation goes up—inflation being a tax on the poor, and the poor being the kind of people who are in our care economy, who do the best thing by our care economy and who need their budgets to serve them best. That is why we are making a cost-of-living package which does things like cheaper medicines, which does things like Commonwealth rent assistance, which does things like tripling the bulk billing rates for people so it is affordable for them to take their kids to see a doctor, all of which are downward inflationary pressures. (Time expired)

Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. How is the Albanese Labor government acting to help families and businesses with the cost of energy bills? What approaches has the government rejected?

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank my honourable friend for the question. As the member knows, and the House knows, the budget contained a range of measures to help Australian households and businesses deal with energy prices.

We delivered the Household Savings Plan, which provides real support to families and to businesses who want to reduce their emissions and their bills by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Of course, the budget also delivered on the energy relief package that we announced last year and that was negotiated by the Treasurer and his state and territory colleagues.

We have now very real evidence, Treasury analysis, of the impact of the government's intervention last year and in the budget. Those honourable members opposite will be very interested to hear; they're apparently interested in measures which reduce household costs. They want to know what's being done to reduce household costs and inflation. I'm very happy to inform the House what the impact of the government's interventions, both the coal and the gas cap and the rebates to affected families, have meant. For example, in New South Wales—where families were facing a 40 per cent increase in power prices before the government's intervention—for those who are receiving the rebates, now they will receive a seven per cent decrease in their energy bills. In Victoria, the difference is $481 for families across Victoria. In Queensland: the honourable members from Queensland, opposite, will be very interested to hear that they were facing—a matter of interest to you, I know, Mr Speaker—a 43 per cent increase, now a 10 per cent decrease in their energy bills after the intervention. South Australia was facing a 51 per cent increase in their power bills. Due to the Albanese government's intervention it's now a five per cent cut in their energy bills for those who are receiving the rebates. Tasmania was facing a 29 per cent increase but is now facing a 10 per cent decrease. The ACT, with 100 per cent renewables, is a little bit different. It was facing a 3.5 per cent increase, now a 15 per cent decrease. Those members opposite, who voted against the intervention, voted for higher power prices are.

I'm asked what policies we rejected. We've rejected doing nothing, which was the opposition's approach. We've rejected inserting the most expensive form of energy: nuclear. But we look forward to tonight, when we'll hear more plans. Perhaps we'll get the costings—

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm just happy if the lights are on in South Australia!

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Barker is warned.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

for the small modular nuclear reactors. Perhaps we'll get the locations. Leaders of the opposition love budget replies. It's their chance to shine before the country, to lay out their policies, to lay out the modelling, to lay out the analysis, to lay out the details. I look forward to seeing the Leader of the Opposition doing that with energy tonight, to outline his plans to Australians. We have delivered. They've got nothing.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Fairfax is continuing to interject. I can hear every word he is saying, trust me. He is warned. The member for Groom is warned. I'm just reminding the member for Barker: he is warned.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Corey and Sarah are a hardworking couple with a mortgage and who are from Western Australia. They told the Today Show, 'What this budget has said to all Australians, I believe, is that the government hasn't listened to any of us.' Why has this government brought down a budget which risks middle-class Australians becoming the new working poor?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Durack for her question. This is a budget that is calibrated to support our economy, to support businesses, to support small business, to support people, such as single mums and people on JobSeeker, who are doing it really tough, but also with a range of measures designed to help people in middle Australia. I refer to the fine answer of the member for Lilley, speaking about her personal experience with child care. Don't people in middle Australia use child care? We're going to decrease the cost of child care.

As a direct result of this government's budget, five million Australians will pay less on their power bills. Five million Australians will receive bills that are less as a direct result of the energy price relief plan that passed this parliament, with those opposite all voting against it. It is something that, between us and the states and territories, will contribute $3 billion to lower those power bills. Those opposite voted against it, and this week they've been out there saying: 'Oh, we were for it the whole way. We were always for it. We were always with you. We just didn't vote for it.'

More than a million families will be paying less for child care, and 11 million Australians will be paying less to see a doctor. We know that, if the Leader of the Opposition had had his way, nobody would have been able to be bulk-billed, because he proposed its abolition by having a fee on everyone who visited a doctor.

In the first four months of this year, Australians paid $76 million less for their prescriptions because of our cheaper medicines plan. And because of this budget six million Australians will pay less for their medicines. Tonight, I look forward to finding out if those opposite are in favour of those six million Australians paying less for their medicines or not.

As a result of our budget, 480,000 Australians will pay zero for their TAFE courses. Because of us, 250,000 aged-care workers will get paid more. Because of our submissions, the Fair Work Commission has agreed also that those on the minimum wage will get paid more. Under our government, we're looking after people wherever they live, whatever their income, whoever they are. (Time expired)