Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong. Minister, earlier this week, the Prime Minister said:

Go back and have a look at some of the front pages that were run during the 2022 election campaign and see how they measure up …

Well, on 2 May 2022, the Australian Financial Review front page had the headline, 'Labor's pitch: no one left behind'. According to Homelessness Australia, however, there has been a 33 per cent increase in Australians living rough in the past two years. Today, Foodbank has released its hunger report, which found that, in 2025, one in three Australian households have experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months. Minister, will you acknowledge that millions of Australians are being left behind under Labor?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator, I'm very pleased that you've gone back and looked at the 2022 election campaign front pages, but I can say to you that this government doesn't need to look at newspapers to know how important it is to continue the work we are engaging in on delivering on the cost of living, on housing, on Medicare, on schools. You will have seen this government, in the last term and in this term, deliver tax cuts which have provided more support to middle- and low-income earners. You would have seen this government invest in Medicare so that more people are able to access bulk-billing services, whether that is at urgent care clinics or with GPs, and you will have seen the largest investment in Medicare since Medicare was built—this term, as we promised.

In relation to housing, I welcome the opposition's interest in housing supply. I welcome it, and—

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're talking about homeless people.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, yes. Thank you, Senator. We do actually think the provision of housing might have relevance to the homelessness issue. I know that those opposite, for many years, have failed to understand that. We are dealing with that—the consequence of years of neglect, when it comes to housing and homelessness, by those opposite. We on this side of the chamber are dealing with it. In addition to the Housing Australia Future Fund, you will recall that this government is prioritising and allocating investment in social and affordable housing, because we understand the importance of the provision of affordable housing as part of addressing homelessness and, frankly, people who are doing it tough in this country.