Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to speak to this address-in-reply today. I want to thank the Governor-General for her generosity to us in recent weeks—in particular, to us new parliamentarians. Her Excellency welcomed new senators and members to Government House while we were at school earlier this month and then opened Government House to our families ahead of the first sitting last week. I also thank her for her address to senators and members in this place, setting out the government's agenda for the term.

On 3 May, the Australian people made their voices heard. Australians re-elected the Albanese Labor government for a second term with an increased majority—and an historic majority at that. It's a very clear endorsement of the work that the Prime Minister and the Labor government did in the first term and of the plan we presented to build a better future for our country—a plan to deliver cost-of-living relief, to strengthen Medicare, to get more people into their first home, to create a more accessible universal early childhood education and care system and to build a future made in Australia. It's a clear mandate to deliver on that plan. In my home state of Western Australia, it's a mandate to continue to keep WA's economy strong, to make more things in WA and to keep helping Western Australian families. That is exactly what we will do. Western Australians know that it is only under a Labor government that they will see action on the things that matter most to them.

This government has been really clear. Tackling the cost of living is our No. 1 priority. We want Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn, and we've made good progress. The Albanese government has got wages up and brought inflation down, but we know that cost-of-living challenges are still being felt by many Australians. That's why we will do more. Following the recent federal budget, the government legislated tax cuts that took effect on the first of this month. These changes will deliver real tax relief to every Australian taxpayer, helping ease cost-of-living pressures and tackling bracket creep head-on. It's a meaningful step to put more money back into the pockets of Australians.

We're not stopping there. Further rounds of tax cuts will be locked in for 2026 and 2027—fair and simple relief for low- and middle-income earners. On 1 July this year, award and minimum wage workers, including those in hospitality, retail and community services, received a 3.5 per cent pay rise—a real pay rise, above inflation. It's something Labor fought for. Just this week, we've been legislating to cut HECS debt, to make medicines cheaper and to protect penalty rates. We're also delivering more support for parents—extending paid parental leave to six months so that families can spend more time together at home in those early months when they most need to be with their new babies. And for the first time, superannuation will be included on government paid parental leave, a crucial step in ensuring women are better off in their retirement and in closing the gap that so often emerges over the course of many women's lives when they take time off to have a family.

We are also delivering another round of power bill credits—another $150 credit for every household—to help bring down household costs. Treasury estimates that this will directly reduce headline inflation by around half a percentage point in 2025 and reduce household bills by 7½ per cent, on average, compared to bills without the extension. In WA, along with the power bill credits delivered by the Cook Labor government in recent years, these credits have meant Western Australians have received significant bill relief at the time they needed it most.

Australians are proud of our world-class healthcare system, and Labor is proud to have created it. Medicare was established by the Hawke government over 50 years ago, and the Albanese Labor government will honour that legacy by making the single largest investment in Medicare ever. In the last term, the government opened 87 Medicare urgent care clinics right across the country, with plans to establish a further 50 this term. This will mean that four in five Australians will live within a 20-minute drive of a Medicare urgent care clinic, within a 20-minute drive of free walk-in care. The government will establish 1800MEDICARE, a 24-hour free health advice service that will help save Australians from unnecessary trips to the emergency department. And we will roll out our plan to make more GP visits free, because we know you shouldn't need your credit card to get the health care you need. Only Labor can be trusted to strengthen Medicare, because we created it and we will always protect it.

We know that many Australians are working hard, doing all the right things, but are still struggling to buy a home or afford—or even find—a rental, and that's why housing is a key priority for this government. We are making it easier for first home buyers to buy a home, with a plan to support five per cent deposits, in every town, every city and every region across our country. And we'll build 100,000 new homes to be set aside specifically for first home buyers so that they're not competing with investors just to get a foot in the door. These measures will shave years off the time it takes to save for a deposit and will open the door to a new generation of homeownership. We're also making renting fairer, having already worked with a number of states around the country to ban no-grounds evictions, cap rent increases and set minimum rental standards. We've increased rental assistance by 45 per cent, helping more than a million households keep a roof over their heads.

Ultimately, though, we know the best way to make housing more affordable is to simply build more of them. That's why this government will deliver the biggest housing construction program in our nation's history—1.2 million new homes, including 55,000 social and affordable homes, through the Housing Australia Future Fund and other initiatives. We're investing in the infrastructure to support that growth, cutting red tape and backing the tradies who'll build them, because housing should be within reach, whether you're looking to buy, renting or just looking for a safe roof over your head.

The Albanese government knows that early learning sets the foundation for everything that follows. It helps kids start school ready to learn and it helps parents get back to or stay in work. That's why we will guarantee three days a week of subsidised early learning education for children who need it, beginning on 1 January next year. This will make a real difference for more than 100,000 working families. Those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 will save, on average, $1,460 per year. That's real cost-of-living relief.

Making early education and care the best it can be, the best possible quality, is a key priority for our government. That's why we are also supporting new and expanded centres where they're needed most with our Building Early Education Fund. It's a billion dollars to make sure all families, no matter where they live, can access quality education and care centres for their children. It will support early education and care in our outer suburbs, in regional towns and in our fastest-growing communities—the areas most in need of more funding. It will help not-for-profit providers grow, will support co-located services on school grounds and will look at ways we can directly invest in centres. All of this is part of the government's plan to make early education and care more affordable, more available and more universal, ensuring every child, no matter where they live or what their background is, can thrive from their earliest years. The Prime Minister has been clear. He wants to build a universal education and care system where every child can access high-quality early education that is simple, affordable and accessible, and that is what we are doing.

We are also building a future made in Australia in our cities, our regions and our communities that power our economy. The government will continue to drive that investment in local manufacturing, because our ambition doesn't end at digging things out of the ground. We want to process, manufacture and value-add right here at home. We are backing industry that will convert these minerals, many of which are in my home state of Western Australia, into solar panels and batteries—the very technologies that will power the next century of Australian homes and businesses.

And we're helping Australian households be a part of that clean energy future too. We will subsidise the cost of home batteries for Australian households, reducing their power bills for life. Our $2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program will help more than a million households install home batteries by 2030. It will reduce the cost of a typical battery by around 30 per cent. Families with rooftop solar will be able to store their own power and use it when they need it. It will cut power bills by up to $1,100 per year. The program builds on that same trusted scheme that helped millions of households install solar, and we're extending that success to batteries. We are also supporting small businesses and communities to install batteries, helping more Australians reduce their reliance on the grid and pushing down power prices for everyone. This is a smart energy policy and it is real cost-of-living relief.

We are lowering bills, cutting emissions and keeping investment flowing into Australian manufacturing. The Albanese government is committed to making more things here in Australia and more things in Western Australia. Whether it's batteries or ferries to expand WA's public transport network, we're creating good, local jobs. We're also investing in transport infrastructure to support Perth's growing suburbs, including in my own neck of the woods, with works to widen the Kwinana Freeway to reduce traffic congestion and enhance freight efficiency.

The Albanese government is delivering on its promises for working people. We're training the next generation of tradies, with nearly 600,000 free TAFE places already delivered. Apprentices in construction and clean energy are now eligible for a $10,000 support payment to help them stay on course and finish their training. Today, the Senate passed our bill to cut student debt by 20 per cent, just like Labor promised. We know this is a game changer for Australians just starting their careers, saving for their first home, juggling a mortgage or raising young kids. Every little bit helps. And we're going even further, raising the repayment threshold so people aren't forced to start paying debt when they can least afford it.

For our kids in school, we're getting every school in every state on a path to full funding. As part of our agreement with the states, we're lifting the Commonwealth contribution from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the school resourcing standard. The funding is tied to the reforms needed to lift education standards right across the country. It means more help for students and more help for teachers.

This is all about fairness. It's about giving Australians a better start and delivering on the commitments we made, because that's what good government looks like. Labor's vision is clear. We are backing working people. We're backing families. This government is committed to building Australia's future.