Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We know, on this side of the chamber, that Australians are doing it tough. It's something that we have been taking very seriously since we came into government 2½ years ago, and we've been working every day to reduce the pressure that Australian families are under. That job is certainly not made easier by the previous coalition government and the numerous gifts that they left the Australian people with—gifts like debt, inflation, declining real wages and energy insecurity; gifts that nobody wants to receive for Christmas. This is the same economy that they left for small businesses, who they purport to care so much about.

Despite these constraints, the Albanese Labor government has picked up the pieces and delivered two successive budget surpluses. We've begun to pay down the Liberal debt, while reducing inflation to its lowest in four years. We've put significant effort and time into easing the pressures felt by Australian families. From 1 July 2024, every taxpayer received a tax cut—not just some, as was planned by the Morrison government. We are putting more money back into the pockets of Australians. Australians have saved more than half a billion dollars in cheaper medicines since September last year. To ensure you aren't paying more at the check-out, we've initiated an ACCC inquiry into the supermarket sector. The ACCC will provide their final report in early 2025.

Those opposite often misled Australians about the economy, but they were telling you the truth when they told you, in 2019, that wage stagnation was a deliberate design feature of the coalition government. And you can expect more of that if a Dutton government is elected.

On this side of the chamber, a Labor government could not be more different. Australians deserve strong bargaining rights and strong wages. Through successive rounds of reform to the Fair Work Act we've rebalanced industrial relations, allowing real wages to grow in each quarter of the last year. Peter Dutton has opposed increasing wages and tax cuts so the average worker will be almost $4,000 worse off. That is you, the average worker, $4,000 worse off under Dutton. He opposed power bill relief so the average household would be $300 worse off. How can you oppose power bill relief for every Australian? It is absolutely insane that you would want Australians to be paying more on their energy bills, but that's exactly what happened in this chamber. He voted against making medicines cheaper.

In fact, the average household will be around $7,600 worse off under a Dutton government. That is absolutely what you can count on under a Dutton government. The coalition have said that they want to wind back $315 billion of government spending. That includes cuts to the public service—services that you rely on, whether it's Medicare or Centrelink or aged-care services. They want you waiting months for your passport, apparently. Don't worry about your holiday! The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently said that electricity prices fell 17.9 per cent in the 12 months to August, thanks to the energy bill relief of the Albanese Labor government that you voted against. This is the largest annual fall for electricity on record. On record.

The Albanese Labor government understands what it takes to sensibly manage the Australian economy while looking after you. That's why we have introduced cheaper child care and made health care more accessible. To moderate inflation and grow the economy, we need a thriving and modern workforce. Those opposite have ignored the economic realities that are right in front of them. After almost a decade of doing nothing to confront Australia's long-term energy insecurity, the previous government left Australians exposed to global interruptions in supply. Now the opposition wants to use their taxpayer money to fund the construction of inefficient nuclear power plants, costing $600 billion for only 4 per cent of energy supply.