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

For those who are watching along in the gallery and those who might be listening at home, this is the part of the day where, after question time, the opposition determines what topics they want us to discuss. I'm delighted that we're able to talk today about what's going on with matters economic. This is Wednesday, we've been back for two days already, and this is the first set of questions that the opposition has decided to ask about the economy and what might be happening for Australians. I do want to congratulate the two women in these portfolios who asked the questions. It's an honour to serve your nation as a person on the frontbench in a shadow capacity. I recall my period of time doing that very happily, so I want to congratulate Senator Chandler and Senator Hume.

But, in my assessment, the two things they asked that were really important for people to understand were questions about real wages and about the public-private spend. Senator Gallagher, in her response, made it very, very clear that, unlike the opposition, who were in government for 10 years and who left this country with an interest rate at 6.1 per cent, we have responsibly managed the economy and taken on the challenge of turning that economy around, like turning around the Queen Mary, to make it work again for Australians, and real wages have been growing.

Senator Scarr made a point about the challenge that we, like every nation around the world, face in regard to dealing with the consequences of the COVID reality that hit every country across the globe. He said increasing spending to cover that period of time was 'the right thing to do'. Labor believes that you need to spend on the right things, and our version of what is right is vastly different from that of those on the other side, and it has become even clearer in this last little period since we've had the love-in and the Liberal and National parties have kissed and made up—again, for the second time. I predict it's going to be like a MAFS breakdown very soon, though. Since they got in, they have given us a few signals that they don't agree at all with many of the challenges that we are facing and with our responses to the challenges that the Australian people are telling us matter to them.

I will just say that, in spending Australian taxpayer dollars for Australians, our investment goes to things like veterans' affairs. It's no good showing up on Anzac Day with your best clobber on and putting a wreath down when you're not looking veterans themselves. Veterans aren't something that belong in a movie or in our memory from history. Veterans need attention from us right now. So let me tell you about one of the public spending things that they want us to cut. They want us to cut public spending on Medicare and veterans.

This was the situation in regard to the way they spent money, the way they didn't handle debt and the way they selected what money would be spent on. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide's interim report said it had serious concerns about a massive claims backlog. That's what we inherited from the Liberal and National parties when we got to government.