Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering on its commitments to ease the cost of living, get wages up and strengthen Medicare? Are there any risks threatening these plans?

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

I thank the member for Bonner for her question and for her strong advocacy for her local community. Campaigning with her in the lead-up to 3 May, I understood how connected she is with that local community and how passionate she is about making a difference to people's lives, by easing cost-of-living pressures, by getting wages up and by strengthening Medicare—and there'll be an urgent care clinic in the member's electorate very soon.

At the election we promised to keep acting on those things, and they're certainly our focus right now, such as the 11,385 cheaper home batteries installed since 1 July. The last time I was in the electorate of Bonner we stood in a backyard there and looked at the real difference it was making—the solar panels on the roof, the battery, making sure the energy is stored, reducing bills permanently for that family. And there are the $10,000 bonuses delivered for construction apprentices—delivering them, along with free TAFE, with a bonus and an incentive to go into construction, backing up our original plan, delivering for energy apprentices, for the new economy.

We have cut student debt by 20 per cent—promised and delivered, flowing through. As the Minister for Education has said, in coming days and weeks there'll be that little button they'll press on their phones, getting that information, that detail, through to all those students—a benefit of, on average, $5½ thousand. We've opened five per cent deposits for every first home buyer as well. And last Saturday there was the largest investment into bulk-billing in Medicare history. We want 90 per cent of GP visits to be bulk-billed by 2030 and to make sure more GP clinics bulk-bill every patient. As of Friday, the number of GP practices committed to bulk-billing was 1,600. It's now Wednesday, and already more than 1,000 GP clinics have been added to that list.

That's the sort of positive action that's been delivered by our Labor government. Those opposite are defined by what they're against. They're against Medicare, they're against cost-of-living help, and now they're against reliable energy and action on climate change as well. We know what they're really against: they're against each other.