Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm glad I was in the chamber for that last contribution because it's hard not to hear the sort of glee at the hope that there might be bad economic signs on the horizon for the Australian people. That's the only thing they're hanging onto. The ridiculous description that we just heard from Senator Bragg, who is from the great state of New South Wales, is selling the whole country down the river instead of standing up with pride for what Australia has achieved and for the future and opportunities that lie ahead for Australians.

They didn't elect the opposition. They didn't elect the shameful, disrupted Liberal-National coalition at war with itself. They actually rejected the coalition whose economic plan at the last election was for higher taxes, lower wages, bigger deficits and more debt. Australians said no to all that that coalition had on offer. They rejected it wholeheartedly. They delivered 94 seats to Labor in the House and a strong and growing team here in the Senate. That is a great outcome for the country because, despite the miserly view, the down-in-the-mouth, who-kicked-the-dog attitude of those sitting on the opposition benches, the reality is the Albanese Labor Government in fact has a strong economic record.

Senator Dean Smith has put this motion before us today—a matter of public importance. Let's think about the last time that Senator Smith's coalition government was in office. In that period of time, inflation was high and rising. Today, after a period of government under the steady hand of the Albanese Labor cabinet and its members, we have inflation that is low and stable. Underlying inflation sits at three per cent, squarely within the Reserve Bank's target band, and headline inflation has been lower for several consecutive quarters. We need to keep it that way, and to achieve that was absolutely no easy feat. It took careful and disciplined management to steer a very narrow path supporting Australians, keeping unemployment low and steadily bringing inflation back to the target, because Australians need to keep their jobs. That's our connection to our future not just for ourselves but for our families and our communities and, particularly in regional areas, for regional economies.

The reality is that Australians have done it tough, and this Labor government understands that and has stood shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Australians. We know that people continue to feel pressure, but the contrast with those opposite couldn't be clearer. Senator Smith and his colleagues have been very, very long-term advocates for deep cuts—cuts to the budget, cuts to services and cuts to the supports that help everyday Australians make ends meet. Their prescription for inflation is the same old tired ideology of austerity, and we know that if they had their way, Australians would be poorer. Many, many more would be unemployed, and they would simply dress it up in highfalutin economic language and call it fiscal discipline. I tell you what it really is. It's hurting ordinary Australians. That is what they do every single time they come into government. It's not responsible economics.

If the motley collection of ideology and grievance that calls itself the coalition were serious at all about supporting Australians, they would have backed the measures that this government delivered. But they said no to energy bill relief. They said no to cheaper childcare. They said no to cheaper medicines, and they said no to a stronger Medicare. There's real pressure on people who want to be able to get to see a doctor, and taking the pressure off people's budgets so they can see a doctor when they need to is a massive effort from this government. From last week, the government began to deliver the single biggest investment in Medicare since its creation, and this is real, real cost-of-living relief. It helps families to see a doctor without worrying about the bill, and it keeps inflation down by reducing out-of-pocket costs. We are stretched to make sure that we get a 90 per cent bulk-billing rate by 2030, and it's already begun.