Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all know that the rising cost of food, petrol, energy and rent is having a real impact on so many across our community. With this knowledge, we need to recognise that we as a government, as a parliament, need to step up and support people where we can, so I'm proud to be part of an Albanese Labor government that is providing targeted cost-of-living relief where we can through things like an increase in JobSeeker, rental assistance, cheaper medicine and making child care more affordable—a measure that will help with our productivity growth. These are all very important steps that are going to help the community.

I also think it's important for me, as a local member of parliament, to be supporting my community in a really practical way that supports what the Albanese Labor government is doing. That is why I have organised for two cost-of-living relief help hubs in my local electorate, one on 28 August in Burwood at Saint Paul's Anglican Church and one on 18 September in Lidcombe at Lidcombe Public School. The idea behind the cost-of-living help hub is to bring different agencies together at the federal, state and council levels so that we can provide direct assistance to members in the community who are really struggling so that they know there are rebates, financial relief and vouchers that they can access to help them during this period where things are getting more expensive. I'm really grateful to the organisations who have already agreed to be part of these costs-of-living help hubs: Services Australia, so that people can speak to people from Centrelink and Medicare to get direct practical assistance; Service NSW, so people can find out about the rebates that are open to different households and families; and also the National Debt Helpline. They're going to be able to provide important information about how you manage your debt and the services that are available through financial counselling that people can access. Sydney Water will also be coming, and we're encouraging everyone to bring their energy and water bills so that they can get the assistance they need in order to help pay those bills, because we know that those bills are currently going up. We also have Marrickville Legal Centre and Western Sydney Community Legal Centre to provide legal advice to those who might not be able to afford it.

I'm really grateful to a whole range of NGOs in my lecture who are providing real direct assistance through vouchers, financial relief or food hampers. Thank you very much to CASS, Metro Assist, the Smith Family and the Salvation Army for agreeing to come along to the cost-of-living relief help hubs.

To complement the work that we are doing by bringing these agencies together at these two events, we've also developed a cost-of-living relief kit. That's a booklet that has all the information about rebates, financial assistance and vouchers that members of the community can access. We want to make sure that, during this period where people are struggling, they know where to go for help. There are some fantastic organisations available, There is some great government assistance that people can access. We want to make sure that people are armed with that information as well as a list of financial counsellors in the local community, because we want to make sure that you don't get yourself in trouble by adding to the debt that you might already be in. Get the financial advice early because that's the best way of ensuring that you're able to manage your finances.

I think this is going to be a real complement to what the Albanese Labor government is doing with the targeted cost-of-living measures that we announced in the budget. I think that my role as a local member of parliament is to make sure that my local community has a better understanding of the support that is available to them.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No doubt the cost-of-living crisis is the biggest challenge that we face as a nation, and there are multiple impacts to this challenge. We all know about the rising interest rates that are putting pressure on people's repayments of their mortgages. Food prices are going up every day. Energy prices are also going up.

We're just hearing about another issue that's coming about because of this crisis, and it's something that a lot of people, including constituents in my electorate, have raised, and that's the health challenges that are coming. We're hearing reports of GP visits being put off and delayed because people can't afford to go to the doctor or are concerned about that cost. It is a serious and significant issue. One of the concerns is not just the health impact today for those people but the long-term consequences for them. We need to continue to do more to invest in health and make sure those that can afford it can get it. Finding a doctor and an appointment is also crucial.

One of the challenges the Australian people face at the moment is that we've got a government that is big on announcements and there is no delivery. Let's look at just one example of where they'll talk a big game but they won't actually deliver on the ground and make a difference. Urgent care clinics were something that the then opposition ALP talked about a lot and promoted a lot during the campaign, and I've got no doubt that many people supported them when urgent care clinics were talked about because, in theory, they're a very important and great idea. Labor promised that they would have 50 urgent care clinics up and running within their first 12 months—and we're now 15 or 16 months into this new government—including 10 in my home state of Victoria.

Disappointingly, there are no clinics in my electorate of Casey. We're 2,500 square kilometres, which is quite a good size. The member for Dawson and the member for Grey, who are here, will tell me that their electorates are significantly larger, but mine is 2,500 square kilometres. We have no emergency departments and no hospitals in Casey, and this government has decided that we don't deserve an urgent care clinic either. When I'm talking to residents, particularly in Healesville and Yarra Glen in the Upper Yarra or in Warburton, where I was a few weeks ago, it is raised as a significant issue, because they've got a drive of almost an hour to get to the closest hospital, and there is not one urgent care clinic for our community to make sure that they can be looked after. It's an issue that's going to continue to be a problem in my electorate.

But it's even worse than that. They promised 50 in 12 months. They promised 10 in Victoria. But actually, if they deliver—and they haven't delivered them yet—at best they'll deliver two new clinics into Victoria. This is the spin, and this is what this government does. Eight of those clinics that they're now claiming are going to be opened are literally being rebadged from the state government. They're taking a state government-funded clinic, and they're going to call it a federal urgent care clinic, bring the money from the state budget to the federal budget and claim they've added 10 new facilities. The problem with this is that in the real world, for people that are trying to get a place with a doctor, it doesn't add an extra appointment. It doesn't add any extra doctors. It's literally just moving the cost from the Victorian state government—and let's be honest: given what we've seen with the Commonwealth Games, removing more costs from that state government is probably a good thing, with the way Dan Andrews and Tim Pallas are running that—to the federal budget. So the government, the minister, the Treasurer and the Prime Minister—those opposite—can stand up and talk about how they're delivering these urgent care clinics, but they're not actually delivering for our community. It's just more spin without any tangible actions. We're seeing those reports, as I said, of people struggling to get an appointment. The costs are going up, clearly. People cannot afford to book an appointment, because they're scared of being unable to pay those bills.

So there are multiple things this government needs to do. This Treasurer and this Prime Minister aren't focused on the cost of living or the economy. Sixteen months in, the Prime Minister has not received one briefing from Steven Kennedy, the head of Treasury, about the economy. Cost of living and the economy are the biggest issue we face in this country, and this Prime Minister has spent more time at the tennis—at the Australian Open—than he has speaking to the Secretary of Treasury about some solutions to the cost-of-living crisis we have in this country.