Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in reply to the Governor-General's speech in what is a very historic time in our national political history. The federal election result on 3 May was historic for many reasons. It was historic for the Australian Labor Party and the coalition. It was a landslide victory for the Albanese Labor government and for the Labor Party and its members; it was the worst loss of seats for the coalition since 1944. The election result also meant a prime minister was returned to office after a full term, the first prime minister to be elected under those circumstances since John Howard. The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, lost his seat; for the first time since John Howard, a leader of the opposition lost their seat. So did the Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt, proving that the utopian vision of the Greens had been denied by the Australian people.

I could not be prouder of the Australian Labor Party, the labour movement, the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Labor Party and every Labor Party member, our volunteers and all the union members who campaigned at this election because they knew how critical it was for this Labor government to be re-elected. We had to ensure that we were re-elected to be able to continue to build on the good work that we had done during the first term.

The Albanese Labor government wants a country where no-one is held back and no-one is left behind, a country of compassion and enthusiasm for our fellow Australians. It was an election to build our future and futureproof our nation during global uncertainty. The Australian people voted for certainty. They voted for Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Party because they knew we had a plan to address the cost-of-living challenges, a positive plan for Medicare and the cost of medicines, a plan for a modern Australia in challenging times. As the Prime Minister declared on election night, 'The Australian people voted for Australian values—for fairness, for aspiration and for opportunity for all.' Queensland is now equally represented between the two parties. South Australia's completely red in terms of seats held by the Albanese Labor government. In my home state of Tasmania we now have four out of five seats red in the House of Representatives.

We are a party of government. We have a platform. We had fully costed policies and we went through all the process of the Expenditure Review Committee and our cabinet. People had faith in us because they believed in our vision for this country: to build Australia's prosperity, to embrace the opportunities the world is presenting to us, to not shy away from challenges but to embrace them.

Labor's plan to open another 50 urgent care clinics across Australia is a bold step forward ensuring timely, accessible health care for families and individuals. By expanding urgent care, more Australians can get the help they need closer to home, reducing pressure on emergency departments and ensuring health remains a right, not a privilege.

Recognising the burden of student debt, Labor is delivering a 20 per cent reduction in student debt for millions of Australians, investing in Australia's future workforce and with a clear commitment to education as a vehicle for opportunity. We already introduced that legislation in the other place this morning.

Labor is legislating to secure penalty rates for 2.6 million Australians, ensuring workers are paid fairly for their time, especially when working unsociable hours. Investment in TAFE and vocational education is laying the foundations for a highly skilled workforce, while targeted funding in the care economy, including fair wages for aged-care workers and support for early childhood educators, reflects Labor's dedication to dignity and respect for all Australian workers.

The housing crisis is being addressed through significant investment to build more homes, making the dream of homeownership and affordable housing a reality for more Australians. We are increasing superannuation contributions to ensure that people can retire with security and dignity, while sustained funding for schools means every Australian child has access to quality education.

The stark contrast between the Albanese Labor government and those previous Liberal governments is that we work with our state and territories, because we want to put Australians first. That means delivering health care and education, because they are going to build the future of our very strong economy.

Internationally, the Anthony Albanese government is rebuilding and strengthening Australia's relationships with China and the Asia-Pacific, navigating global uncertainty with a focus on stability and robust trade partnerships. These initiatives together underpin Labor's vision for a compassionate, future-ready Australia.

When we stand alongside one another in this place, I think we should all recognise that we do live in the best country on earth, and that Australians generally know that. We don't want American policies on our shores—which are what Mr Dutton tried to bring to the last election. It must be noted that this election result is a complete repudiation of the policies and leadership style of the Liberal Party and the National Party. Those on the other side may try to blame others for their historic hopeless results, but the truth is Mr Dutton spent 24 years in the other place and left a trail of devastation. When the Liberals were last in government for nine long years—and yes, he left us with lots of ammunition to use during that last election—we presented Australians with a plan for a future and a vision of prosperity and promise, giving Australians hope. Unfortunately, Mr Dutton's character and his record were reflected in the results of the ballot paper.

We as Australians like Americans, and we admire much about Americans, but we don't want American-style politics brought into this country. The result demonstrated very clearly that Australians want a government that puts its people first and invests in the things that Australians need and ask for.

There was a person who fanned the flames of division during this last election period. But we saw a historic victory, with Mr Dutton losing his seat. I want to congratulate the new member for Dickson, Ali France, and to say how inspiring she is. She inspired all of us, during that campaign, to never give up on what you believe in. So I congratulate the new member for Dickson. I know that Ali will be a wonderful representative, not only for the people of Dickson but for our country as a whole.

There are lots of questions, and I'm sure there are lots of discussions going on in those rooms, from those on the opposite side of the chamber. But there is a stark contrast. You can either put forward a positive economic plan to invest in your people, by investing in education, health and aged care and giving hope to young people by ensuring that we have the best education system anywhere in the world, or you can be negative and try and pull people down—and those were the alternative policies that were talked about by those opposite leading up to the last election. But the reality is that there were really no policies put up by those opposite, because they had no vision. What they did was offer the Australian people 25c a litre off their petrol, as if that alone was going to help with the challenges of the cost of living.

What we should be focused on now is ensuring that, as a government, we continue to listen to the Australian people and, in our second term of government, build on the investment that we made into our communities during our first term. But I think it's important to remember that, when the Australian people vote, I've never known them yet to get it wrong, and that's even when they've put Labor into opposition. That's a lesson that every politician and aspiring politician should learn—that you have to listen to your community on what is important to them and reflect that in your policies.

But I must admit that this was a victory that I was not expecting. I'll quite openly admit that, going into that election campaign, I knew that we had good policies and we had a lot to defend, but I did not expect the result that we had. That result gives us a lot of responsibility. We have a lot of new members in the House of Representatives. Fortunately, on our side, we also have additional senators, and I welcome each and every one of them because it just means we can share the workload and they can be part of what I consider to be a fantastic Labor government under the leadership of Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers and their fellow cabinet members and ministers.

I'm sure, coming from Tasmania, that most Tasmanians who had to go back to the polls on Saturday have had enough of elections for a while, but I want to say to them that having four out of five seats in the House of Representatives means that they are going to have a very strong voice in this government. I want to acknowledge and welcome to the other place Jess Teesdale, the new member for Bass. What a triumphant victory, with an extraordinary nine per cent swing to Jess. As a duty senator I will continue to work with her, and I congratulate her.

But I'd also like to take the opportunity to acknowledge Bridget Archer, the former member for Bass, who I worked with across various forums in this place, and to acknowledge the work she did while she was here. I congratulate her as the newly elected member for Bass in the Tasmanian parliament. I know she will continue to work for her constituency. Even though we were on opposite sides of the chamber, we did work together very well in this place and in our community.

I'd also like to congratulate the former state Labor leader, Rebecca White, who was the former state member for Lyons. She was elected as the federal member for Lyons, defeating Susie Bower. I welcome her to the Tasmanian federal Labor Party team. I also congratulate the former government whip, former senator Anne Urquhart, who defeated Mal Hingston for the seat of Braddon. She had the biggest swing in the country of 15 per cent, so congratulations to Anne Urquhart in that other place. She'll miss being here, I'm sure. I also want to congratulate Minister Julie Collins on her re-election in Franklin. I'd also like to acknowledge Senator Carol Brown for being re-elected to this place and representing the great state of Tasmania, and, of course, our new incoming senators: Senator Richard Dowling, a Tasmanian here in the chamber with me now; and Josh Dolega, also joining the Tasmanian team. It's great to have two fresh young faces, new enthusiastic senators, who will bring their own personalities and experience to this place.

There is so much more work to be done, but I want to talk about some of the things that we've done, which we will continue to build on. There is the legislation that was introduced this morning to reduce HECS debts by 20 per cent, which was an election commitment. We will continue to support TAFE because we have to ensure that we have the skills available in our workforce. We've had great achievements, including supporting lower paid workers, such as those in the caring economy and in aged care, which I've been a champion on for the entire time I've been in this place, and the increase of wages for aged-care workers and early childhood educators. These are only a couple of the things that, as a Labor senator, I'm very proud that our government is delivering.

There's so much more to talk about, such as the increase of paid parental leave, paying superannuation on that, and 12 per cent superannuation. We must never forget it was a Labor government that introduced superannuation. If you listened to those opposite, they wanted you to raid your superannuation. Instead of building more affordable and social housing, they would actually want you to raid your superannuation. There's bad policy in each way that they go. I'd also like to take— (Time expired)

(Quorum formed)