Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) | Hansard source

I thank Senator Ananda-Rajah for the question. It's an important question about how governments can work on and implement policies that assist households with cost-of-living pressures, as we have done consistently since coming to government. Today is 2 July, one day into the new financial year, a financial year that delivers an additional tax cut for every working Australian and, of course, builds into our tax arrangements the new instant tax deduction—the $1,000 off your taxable income with no receipts—and the working Australian tax offset. That will also be part of our tax law from now on and allows us to provide a tax offset for those who are earning wage income through the tax system.

In addition to that, when you look at those tax cuts in conjunction with the tax cut already delivered and those ones coming down over the next 12 months or so, it will mean that the average worker will save up to $2,800 a year. That is a big help. When we know families are balancing pressures on household budgets, to be able to have that additional income coming into the house is really important.

On top of that, we're undertaking a range of measures, including, for new families, the extension of paid parental leave to a full six months, with superannuation paid on that, the new minimum wage and award wage increases, which will again be very welcome in those households that rely on those wage adjustments to help them meet costs of living. Three million workers will benefit there. And, of course, there are all of our other investments into Medicare urgent care clinics and cheaper medicines and the funding that we've provided in schools and hospitals to make sure that those basic services are properly funded.