Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We want Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn. This is not a slogan; it is a statement of intent. It is an intent that drives the Albanese Labor government, holding its focus—where it needs to be—on the Australian people. Who could disagree with this intent? Those opposite. A year ago tomorrow, the coalition voted against tax cuts for Australian workers—a decision driven by the Leader of the Opposition, the then shadow Treasurer. Helping Australians with the cost of living is the Albanese Labor government's top priority. It is clearly not the coalition's priority.

While the coalition committed themselves to increasing taxes, the Albanese Labor government cut the taxes of 14 million Australians—and we did not stop with tax cuts. We have cut student debt, benefiting 16,000 students in my electorate of Hasluck, and cut the cost of TAFE with fee-free courses. We have supported apprentices with $10,000 bonuses and introduced paid prac for nursing, teaching, social work and midwifery students. We have cut the cost of PBS medicines. We have cut the cost of seeing a GP with the largest investment in bulk-billing, and we've opened Medicare urgent care clinics around the country and in Midland, Morley and Ellenbrook in Hasluck. We have cut the cost of home batteries by 30 per cent, lowering power bills. The intent of a government matters, and ours is simple: we want Australians to earn more and keep more— (Time expired)