Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. According to Oxfam, over the last year 17 more billionaires have been added to Australia's billionaires list, now at 178. Do you think that this time next year there should be fewer or more Australian billionaires?

Milton Dick (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

I've got some difficulties with that question, because it's asking for an opinion, and you can't ask a minister regarding their opinions. Otherwise we would be here all day, if that was the case. I just remind all members that they can't ask ministers or prime ministers for opinions, and it's not the responsibility of the PM. So we'll have to be lenient with this one, and the Prime Minister will get some latitude in answering this question, as a result of the way it was asked.

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

I thank the member for Ryan for her interesting question. I will make some comments about aspiration. What I want is for people to be as successful as possible. For most people, overwhelmingly, that's not about whether there are more billionaires or not. It's about whether they get a roof over their head that they own. Most Australians don't aspire to be billionaires. What they do aspire to is to live a life of comfort; to be able to retire with decent superannuation, which is why we're putting that in place; and to be able to get health care through Medicare if they get sick or their kids get sick.

One of the great things about this country is that, when Kerry Packer had a heart attack, he ended up at my local hospital—Royal Prince Alfred Hospital—and he got the same care in the emergency department as my mum, the invalid pensioner, did when she passed away having gone through the same level of care that Kerry Packer got at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. That's what they aspire to. They aspire to make the most of themselves, and that's why we're investing in early childhood education. That's why fair and full funding began this year for every student in every public school, as well as in every private school across Australia. They aspire to make sure that they are able to live a life that is free from conflict, which is why we work in the international community to build relations in our region. It's why Australia is a voice for multilateralism and those institutions that we think are important.

I got a question earlier on about living standards and the quality of life that people have. Just a few fun facts—living standards were up over the last year on the annual basis. Living standards were falling 1.5 per cent in the quarter before we came to office—1.5 per cent in just one quarter. The latest OECD data shows that living standards are growing almost three times the OECD average of advanced economies. My government is absolutely committed to a better quality of life for Australians, which is why, when we've had to make difficult decisions on where income tax cuts will be targeted, we've targeted it at low- and middle-income earners. It's why we support the minimum wage increases that were granted by the Fair Work Commission. (Time expired)