Emma Comer (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. What actions are the Albanese Labor government taking to help with the cost of living, including the cost of fuel? How does this compare to other approaches?

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

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I hope you and the wonderful member for Petrie won't mind me welcoming Lauren Jackson to the House as well. She is the absolute GOAT of Australian basketball, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who hopes that the next time we see Lauren Jackson in the parliament, she's not sitting up there but somewhere over here.

When it comes to the very real and very serious pressures that Australians are facing, particularly but not only at the petrol bowser, this government and this prime minister are stepping up and stepping in to do what we responsibly can to take some of the edge off these pressures that people are feeling right around Australia. I think it's worth acknowledging that, obviously, Australian families are not sitting around the table in the situation room, making key decisions about this war in the Middle East, but they are sitting around the kitchen tables, working out how they will pay for the consequences of this war in the Middle East, primarily when it comes to petrol and diesel.

That's why the Prime Minister and I, working with our colleagues, including the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy and others, announced yesterday that we will be halving the fuel excise from April to give some welcome relief to Australians, particularly Australian motorists and truckies who are doing it tough. What this means is a fairly substantial saving at the petrol bowser for three months. This is timely relief, it is targeted relief, it's temporary relief and it's also responsible relief. One of the main jobs of this government is to work through these pressures that people are facing, right around Australia, and to step up and do what we responsibly can. And that's what this is all about.

Now, this is not the only thing that we're doing to help with the cost of living. We've got the tax cuts coming. We've got more bulk-billing and cheaper medicines. We've got the student debt relief. This is all about easing some of that pressure that we understand and acknowledge that people are under. Also today—and I know the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations will want me to mention it—there was a very welcome outcome, when it comes to youth wages, from the Fair Work Commission.

And also, earlier today, the Reserve Bank made it clear that, in October, they will be ending the surcharges on credit cards and debit cards, and I acknowledge the member for Bennelong and others who've campaigned for this outcome, for some time, in our economy. These fees and charges drive Australians absolutely nuts, and the Reserve Bank has said that they'll be winding them back from October.

And so, across a whole range of areas, we're doing what we responsibly can to ease the cost of living. We know that this war in the Middle East is having very serious consequences for the global economy. Australians are paying a hefty price for that, at the bowser and beyond, and we're doing what we can to help.