Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Today, our parliament begins the work of building a better future. The Australian people voted for change, and we intend to give them just that. The Governor-General has shared with all members and senators the ambitious agenda that we took to the Australian people at the election and that we received a strong mandate for, with an absolute majority in the House of Representatives. It is a plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis facing Australian families; to get wages moving again; to make child care cheaper; to step up and act on climate change; to seize the opportunities to become a renewable energy superpower; to invest in the skills and training and apprenticeships and technology that our economy needs to grow and thrive; to help more Australians know the security of a roof over their head; to rehabilitate Australia's reputation in the region and around the world; and to bring dignity and humanity back to aged care. It is a plan as well to enrich our nation by embracing the Statement from the Heart at Uluru—to answer that gracious, patient call for unity and to enshrine a voice in our Constitution.

The great privilege, the great opportunity and the solemn responsibility of government is to turn these ambitions into actions, to convert the promises of a campaign into the progress of a nation, to write our vision for Australia's future into the laws of the land.

Labor's plan is for all Australians, and we've pledged to govern for every Australian, no matter where they live and no matter who they voted for. In the first speeches of our colleagues we've already heard the voice of modern multicultural Australia, the embrace of diversity, the march to equality that gives our nation—our democracy—greater strength. And all of us—new members and those who've been here awhile—know there is not a day to waste.

The challenges facing our economy and our country are significant indeed. The IMF is warning of growing global uncertainty, and rising inflation confirmed again today means price pain for households, making it harder for people to get by and to buy the things they need. The government understands that inflation is a challenge for the economy as a whole. We also know it puts the pressure on those who can least afford it. As the Treasurer has said, things will get worse before they get better—but they will get better, and we will work every day to make sure of that.

The challenges are significant and, more than that, they are urgent—and we are responding with urgency. This is a government that has hit the ground running. In our first two months in office we moved straightaway to back an increase in the minimum wage for 2.8 million workers. I want to say again to all those Australians, some of the heroes of the pandemic—the people who kept our economy going, cleaning hospitals, stacking shelves, facing the crisis on the front line—you deserve more than our thanks; you deserve a government that backs your right to fair pay. If I can go back and channel a much-played conversation I had during the election campaign: do I welcome the 5.2 per cent increase for minimum-wage workers? Absolutely!

Secondly, we have already put to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change our nationally determined contribution of 43 per cent by 2030. That puts Australia on the path to net zero by 2050. This week we will put that same ambition in legislation to the parliament of Australia. I say to those who are continuing to oppose that: they should listen to the electorate, because the electorate very clearly has sent a message that they want a government who acts on climate change, who puts in place an energy policy for the country.

Thirdly, when floodwaters revisited their devastation on people in Southern Queensland and New South Wales, we mobilised the ADF to work alongside state support—faster than ever before. We also got emergency payments moving to families and businesses affected—faster than ever before.

Fourthly, we've implemented the strongest-ever biosecurity measures to protect Australian livestock from the threat of foot-and-mouth disease. We acted swiftly. The minister went to Indonesia to deal with the challenges they're facing. We also took action right here in Australia, in consultation, of course, and with a position that was supported by the National Farmers Federation, the cattle industry and the livestock industry, while those opposite were busy playing politics.

Lastly, through the Quad, through NATO and the Pacific Islands Forum, through official visits to Indonesia and France and through targeted ministerial engagement, we have demonstrated to our neighbours, our partners and our allies that the new government of Australia will be a constructive partner and a trustworthy friend. They don't have to worry about sending text messages about whether it will appear. We engage in a trustworthy way, one that builds relationships. We also, of course, made the visit to Ukraine to express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, suffering from the Russian invasion.

Now my team are seeking to bring this same energy, urgency, purpose and drive to the work of this parliament. The government is determined for this new parliament to work better than the old one. Our behaviour—all of us—is a part of that. We must strive to treat each other with respect and courtesy, to cooperate where it is possible and to disagree in good faith where it is not. Of course, we may not always meet that standard. We serve in an adversarial democracy, and this chamber can be a place for fierce and determined clashes. But we can—each of us—make the contest about substance and ideas, about the things that matter to the people and the country, rather than the trivial, the personal and the petty. Let each of us try to live up to this place's best traditions, rather than succumb to its worse habits.

The culture of what happens in this building matters too. That's why the Jenkins review is a call for all of us to make this a safer, healthier and more respectful place to work. Of course, we are already, outside this place, working on the 55 recommendations of the Respect@Work report.

Making the parliament work better also requires a program and a purpose, an agenda that will make a difference to the lives of the communities we represent and the people we have the honour of serving. Day after day, the previous government treated parliament as an arena for its political stunts: cooking up wedge issues, manufacturing points of difference, desperately seeking to find a new angle for attack. But, for all their frantic obsession with finding something to say, they rarely turned up to parliament with anything to do. As the Treasurer will detail tomorrow, the Australian economy is still counting the cost of that complacency, that culture of rorts and waste, that wasted decade of delay and denial and division, that strange self-loathing that saw parliament as a chore and government as a problem.

We are determined to be better and determined to do better. My colleagues and I want to treat every day in this job in this place in government as an opportunity to deliver for the people of Australia, to fulfil our promises and to prove worthy of the trust that the Australian people have placed in us. And that begins with the legislation that we're introducing here this week—a significant legislative agenda as outlined in the Governor-General's address to the parliament just yesterday.

Firstly, we're taking the important first steps to fix the crisis in aged care. We are committed to giving older Australians the respect, dignity, quality of life and humanity in their later years that they deserve. That starts with putting nurses back into nursing homes—something that shouldn't be a radical concept, but, apparently for those opposite, was just too hard.

We're going to make sure that Australians living in aged care can see a registered nurse in their residential facility. We know that this brings peace of mind to people, and we know also that it helps take pressure off emergency departments. On so many occasions, we know that our hospitals are full not just because of people who need to be there. Were other facilities available, like a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, for example, or if you had a nurse in a nursing home, people could get the care where they are before issues become more acute. This is a commonsense position that was outlined very clearly in the aged-care royal commission report.

The legislation we are bringing into the parliament will also boost accountability in residential aged care and put a stop to exorbitant fees for home care. The money that the government and families put in should go to improving the quality of care for people, not boosting the profits of a few unscrupulous providers. Overwhelmingly, people in the sector are doing their absolute best and, in particular, I pay tribute to the workers in the sector who have been under such enormous pressure, particularly in recent years, but continue to look after our older Australians.

The other piece of legislation that we've introduced just this morning is the creation of Jobs and Skills Australia. This is applying the Infrastructure Australia model to how we deal with the labour market. Immigration will always play an important role in our skills provision, whether it be temporary or attracting skilled migrants to Australia. But we also need to have a plan to train Australians, because what occurred when the borders shut was, all of a sudden, the skills shortages went right through the roof. People weren't able to get the skills that they needed to operate their businesses or even just to stay open. The creation of Jobs and Skills Australia, a new statutory body, will help fill urgent gaps in our national skills base and provide a plan ahead to avoid shortages in the years to come. This is important for individuals, to give them the opportunity to better their lot in life, but it's also important for the nation.

Another piece of legislation we've introduced is to amend the Fair Work Act to make 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave part of the National Employment Standards, available to 11 million workers if they have need of it. In Australia, tragically, one woman dies at the hands of their current or former partner every 10 days. Thousands more live in pain, fearing for their safety and the safety of their children. Escaping a violent partner is a legal, logistical, financial and psychological nightmare. Worrying about missing work simply shouldn't enter into it. No woman should be held back from leaving a violent situation for fear of losing her job. This legislation will make that right, and it's just one of the measures that we will take—in addition to providing additional community workers, in addition to providing support for those in the sector who need it and in addition to providing additional funding for emergency housing. The truth is that, every night in Australia, a woman—potentially a woman with children—is turned away from a shelter because there simply isn't space, and they're forced to sleep in their car or try to sleep on a friend's couch or, worse still, return to a dangerous situation. We can do better and we must do better.

We've also introduced legislation to deal with the challenge and the opportunity of climate change. For too long, climate sceptics have dictated Australia's climate and energy policy. Nine years of delay and denial on climate policy inflicted nine years of chaos and confusion in energy policy. The legislation that we've introduced gives parliament a chance to draw a line under that. We've already updated our position for the United Nations and sent a message to the world. What that has done is open the door of international engagement. It's the price you pay for going through—you've got to leave the naughty corner, and Australia has left the naughty corner, when it comes to climate change, and we're engaging. Given what has occurred in recent years in Australia, with the bushfires, with the floods, floods and more floods—which followed, a few years earlier, of course, the drought—I can't understand how anyone in this chamber can say that we don't need to legislate for a serious position. Those opposite, at various times, took steps down the track. They actually had the Liberal party room vote for a National Energy Guarantee, not once but twice. But then, instead of implementing it, they rolled the leader. We need to do better than that. This is a serious issue, and people voted for climate action at this election.

With this legislation, the crossbenchers and the opposition and the minor parties have an opportunity to end the climate wars. We announced this policy on the first Friday of December last year. It was more than 5½ months to polling day. No-one can say that there wasn't scrutiny of the position that we put forward. No-one can say it wasn't fully costed. No-one can say there was any ambiguity about this during the election campaign. That's why, in my view, those throughout this parliament—in the House of Representatives and the Senate—have an obligation to vote for this legislation. If that doesn't convince them that that's necessary, think about how isolated they will be, given that the Business Council of Australia, who I addressed this morning here in Parliament House; the Australian Industry Group; the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the Australian Council of Trade Unions; Greenpeace; the Australian Conservation Foundation; and the Clean Energy Council have all said they support this legislation and have called for parliament to pass this legislation. Surely everyone in this parliament can find one of those groups that they listen to, somewhere on that very broad spectrum which is there. The business community are saying very clearly that they just want the certainty that comes from this legislative change. It won't change the commitment. The commitment's done. It has already been done, witnessed by those organisations and submitted. What it will do, though, is provide some comfort and some certainty going forward, particularly for the business community.

All of that legislation is legislation we're introducing in week 1. Tomorrow, the Treasurer will deliver the economic statement to the House, ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit we'll convene here in Parliament House in September, followed by the budget in October. People understand the tremendous difficulties of the situation that we have inherited, but I want Australians to know that we have a plan. We have a plan to help with the cost of living, a plan to get wages moving, a plan to step up and work with businesses and unions on skills shortages, and a plan to boost productivity and take pressure off family budgets, with reforms such as cheaper child care. As a government, we've now embarked on the work of building that better future we promised.

I invite the parliament to join us in this task, to cooperate in the national interest and to find constructive common purpose. Whatever our differences in political parties, we share a love of this country, and we share an extraordinary privilege to be here.

Through all the turmoil and hardship of the past few years, Australians have been magnificent. They've been brave. They've been caring. They've been resolute. The best way that we can serve the people of Australia is by striving to match those qualities that they themselves have shown: courage in the work of change, care for those in need, and resolve as we face the challenges ahead. With new hope, with new energy and with new purpose, let us take up this great task to indeed create a better future for this country.

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