Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a simple dream and one that ought to be attainable—the sold sign at the front of a house, close to work and schools, a happy family pictured out the front. Though quickly, this was becoming a thing of the past. Locked out of the market, young people were increasingly despondent about the opportunity to own their own piece of Australia. Something had to change. So this Albanese Labor government has made that change. Only a party truly out of touch, truly not talking to community, truly comfortable with the status quo, would oppose giving young Australians the opportunity to own their own home, to start a family, to buy a dog and live their best lives.

My parents built the home they still live in when I was a toddler. They paid it all off before I finished high school. That's what I want for my daughters—to get into their own home, to not pay off someone else's mortgage but to be paying off theirs. That's what I want for every single Australian. That is what this government is going to deliver: more housing supply, more opportunity.

If you want a negatively gear going forward, fantastic. Build a new home, get a family living in there and you'll be investing in your future. You'll be investing in your tenant's future, and you'll be investing, most importantly, in the future of Australia. Every day I get constituents telling us that, yes, now they have hope. Now they see the light. Now they believe that they're going to live in their own home with their dog, with their children, with the stickers that their kid put up there when they were two, and they'll live there the rest of their lives.

Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia asks extraordinary things of the men and women who wear our uniform, and all they ask for when they return home is that we take care of them and we treat them with respect. That is not what has happened in this federal budget with the Albanese government's decision to impose a $5,000 cap on allied health services for veterans. I've spoken to many veterans in my electorate, many ex-service organisations, many RSLs. They are hurt. They are angry. They feel there is a lack of respect and understanding. Veterans often have complex and chronic health needs. They're not simple; they're not short term. Veterans deserve adequate support, respect and care from this federal government. They deserve nothing less.

That is why I oppose this cap; it is why the Liberal and National parties oppose this cap. The coalition will stand up and fight for our veterans. They fought for Australia, and they deserve all of us in this place standing up and fighting for them. They deserve nothing less, and that is why it is so disappointing to hear government members supporting the cap on allied health services for veterans.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Member for Solomon! You're out of your seat and you're highly disorderly.

Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Veterans have multiple conditions. They have complex and chronic health conditions. They need ongoing support. They deserve nothing less than adequate and full support from their country.

Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm a proud millennial. I speak the language of the Veronicas, Round the Twist, Twilight and too many peace signs. But, like every young person in this country, I know that our housing system is cooked. In 1980, the average home cost about three times the annual income and took three years to save for. In 2000, it cost about four times the annual income and took seven years to save for. But, today, your first home costs eight times the annual income. It takes 11 years to save for. And first home buyers face the reality that they may never pay off their mortgage. Young Aussies have got a housing system that is stacked against them. They're doing the right thing—studying, picking up a trade, working hard and saving—yet, still, they get to auctions and are outbid by investors next to them who are backed by the Australian taxpayer.

What our government wants is something simple: for young people to get a fair go at owning their own home, because, right now, it's easier to buy your 10th house than your first, and that's just not right. Our budget is backing first home buyers and levelling the playing field at auctions, like with five per cent deposits for first home buyers. In my electorate of Gorton, over 3,000 people have bought their first home thanks to our five per cent deposit scheme. It's changing lives and it's doing this for families right across the country. And, to make housing more affordable, we need to build more homes. Young Aussies don't want to pay rent forever. We want more sold stickers across our communities, put there by young Australians.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This budget represents the forced liquidation of Australia's economic future. It's a shonky ledger of broken promises, skyrocketing debt, lower living standards and fewer homes for Australians. At the very centre are toxic taxes, a fast-track formula to economic stagnation and a sneaky raid on anyone trying to get ahead. Pushing Australia towards the highest capital gains taxes in the world is a brutal assault on aspiration. It is a direct tax on saving, a tax on investing and an act of intergenerational theft. By spending more and taxing more, this Labor government is pushing up inflation, increasing interest rates—higher for longer—and leaving the next generation with a compounding liability. This government wants to tax Australians from the cradle to the grave, sneaking in a death tax on family assets. Labor call this trust reform, but the public has absolutely zero trust in this government.

Now, with the public backlash, the PM is panicking. Instead of admitting that these taxes are toxic, Labor is doubling down, acting like a backyard butcher, hacking out messy little carve-outs. They hope that the public won't notice that their economic butchery is slaughtering our economy. It's time for the Albanese Labor government to drag this broken agenda back to the economic chopping block.

Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A budget is more than a set of numbers. It is a statement of what a government believes people deserve. This federal budget says, clearly and proudly, that Australians deserve health care that is affordable, accessible and there when they need it. This budget invests in Medicare. It invests in bulk-billing. It locks in Medicare urgent care clinics as a permanent part of our health system. It delivers record funding for public hospitals, cheaper medicines and stronger digital health infrastructure. This means a child with a fever can be seen before midnight. It means a pensioner can fill a script without having to choose between medicine and groceries. It means emergency departments can focus on true emergencies. And it means Medicare is not just defended in speeches; it is strengthened in practice.

While Labor is building, others are barking from the cheap seats—and then there's the One Nation-Liberal coalition. There's a party that's spent decades perfecting the politics of the empty fist, all swing and no substance. They come into this parliament thundering about the forgotten Australian, but they have no intention of remembering them once the cameras are gone. On health care, they're not just weak; they are vacant. They have no credible plan for Medicare, no plan for hospitals, no plan for GP access and no plan for bulk-billing—nothing. It's just a long, tired performance of outrage from a party that confuses volume with virtue and anger with intellect. On these tests, One Nation and the Liberals fail every time. (Time expired)

David Batt (Hinkler, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm extremely grateful that game 1 of State of Origin is being played tonight, because, for many in my league-loving electorate of Hinkler, the brief distraction from Labor's budget of broken promises will be welcome. Phone calls and emails have been coming in thick and fast to my electorate offices in Hervey Bay and Bundaberg every single day since 12 May, when Labor delivered this bad news budget. Following dozens of face-to-face catch-ups across Hinkler last week at my mobile offices, I can categorically confirm to the House that the people of Hinkler don't want carve-outs to Labor's toxic taxes. They want them axed. That includes those aged 65 or older with private health cover. This Labor government is stripping back their private health insurance rebate. For Hinkler, 26,300 seniors are now facing a real and difficult choice: to cut spending on essentials, downgrade their cover or drop it altogether. Then there's the cruel cap on Hinkler veterans' allied health services. The uncertainty alone is putting immense stress on those who have served our country and fought for our freedoms. Bundaberg veterans are so incensed they are planning a protest this Friday, and who could blame them? Veterans should not be asked to bear the cost of Labor's budget repair. Let's hope a Queensland win over the Blues tonight can bring some joy, because Labor's budget has left regions like Hinkler in a state of despair. They've been left wanting and searching for a fair go.