Josh Dolega (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

I might just start by saying it's pretty ironic that Senator Bell has brought forth this urgency motion today on the cost of living. It's sheer audacity from those who are doing the bidding of a billionaire that showers them in cash and gifts. Seriously! They're talking about cost of living! Senator Bell speaks about this government's failure to address cost-of-living pressures and the need for urgent action, yet his own party, Pauline Hanson's One Nation, always votes against measures designed to support everyday, hardworking Australians.

Time and time again, when legislation has come before this parliament to provide relief—whether it's to lift workers' wages, reduce the cost of medicines, expand bulk-billing and access to health care, increase housing supply or lower energy bills—One Nation has chosen to oppose it. They have repeatedly voted against policies aimed at helping families keep up with rising prices. They have refused to back measures that would put real dollars back into people's pockets, and they have turned away from opportunities to support Australians that are doing it tough. While the words we hear today may sound concerned, the record tells a very different story. Australians aren't interested in rhetoric or political point scoring. They are interested in results that make their lives easier, and that's exactly what we are delivering.

These are some examples from today. The Albanese Labor government is taking practical steps to ease pressure on households. We're giving every taxpayer another tax cut as part of our plan to deliver a series of five tax cuts and, ultimately, save a worker up to $2,800 a year. We're expanding paid parental leave to a full six months and helping new parents spend more time at home with their newest family member during those important early months. We're backing in minimum wage and award wage increases to boost the pay of three million workers. We are permanently extending the $20,000 instant asset write-off for small businesses, giving them confidence to invest and to grow.

We're also strengthening our healthcare system by making Medicare urgent care clinics a permanent part of Australia's health system to help deliver patients the best care and to take pressure off households and hospitals. We're injecting an additional $25 billion into public hospitals to help states deliver care. We're expanding services at endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics to include menopause and perimenopause. We're improving patient outcomes by requiring pathology image providers to upload tests to My Health Record so Australians can access their information more easily and securely.

Beyond this, we're opening the new National Environmental Protection Agency—the very first in Australia's history—and establishing the new Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency to improve outcomes, access and wellbeing. We have legislated payday super so workers start earning returns sooner and to reduce the risks of unpaid entitlements. Whilst some in the Liberals and the Nationals are fighting the temptation to bend the knee to One Nation, Labor is fighting the big supermarkets by banning supermarket price gouging with the new, mandatory food and grocery code that prohibits very large retailers from charging excessively high prices.

We are focused on practical, targeted action to ease the cost-of-living pressures. By contrast, what do we see from One Nation? More cuts, more chaos and more division. This is not the change that Australia needs. They propose a complete overhaul of our workplace laws that are delivering higher wages for workers. We know their policymaker and donor-in-chief wants to pay workers $2 an hour. Shame. They say it's too hard to sack workers at a time when Australians need job security to pay their bills. They opposed our same job, same pay laws that are literally delivering tens of thousands of dollars to workers who were employed through sham, shoddy, dodgy labour-hire arrangements. They've even called for massive cuts to health spending when families are already struggling with rising costs. We know Senator Hanson went on the record. She made her views on paid parental leave very clear. They want to get rid of it. They can't stand it. One Nation voted against it. It's one thing to voice their approval in public, but their actual actions in parliament are what matter.

One Nation is very good at making complaints. They are really good at it. But they're very bad at putting forward real solutions. Every time—every single time—they have an opportunity to make life easier for Australians, they vote with the Liberals and Nationals to make it harder. Shame!