Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government is committed to building a better future for Australians, and for the people of Robertson in my home on the Central Coast. The Australian public voted at the recent federal election for a government that would take the issue of cost of living seriously, because for too long under the former Liberal government Australians continued to see cost-of-living increases and a government that was ever absent. I am proud to be part of an Albanese Labor government that has a suite of policies that will address the cost of living and is now working to legislate those policies to help ease cost-of-living pressures for Aussie families.

For example: in my electorate of Robertson, the cost of child care is extremely high for many couples—it is extremely high for many families. This was constantly brought up as we doorknocked, as we phonebanked and as we hosted street stalls around Robertson. The Albanese government will ensure child care is more affordable by lifting the maximum childcare subsidy rate, and we will extend the increased subsidy to outside-school-hours care, including many other changes that will ease the cost of child care and therefore ease the cost of living. These measures are targeted and will mean that 96 per cent of families will be better off, which equates to 1.26 million families across Australia. I know that the people of Robertson will benefit from our policy making child care cheaper, and I look forward to this 47th parliament passing this legislation and helping millions of families struggling with child care to get much-needed assistance.

During my election campaign, Labor made a commitment, should an Albanese Labor government elected, that Narara, a suburb in Robertson, would receive one of 500 community batteries that will be rolled out across Australia. Community batteries will revolutionise energy storage at the grassroots level and mean that thousands of Australians will have the ability to feed solar generated electricity from their rooftops into a community battery that can be utilised at night-time. This policy will ensure that Australia meets its emissions reduction targets but, importantly, will reduce electricity costs for thousands of Australians and the people in my electorate of Robertson.

The Albanese Labor government also wants to ensure that more Australians can harness the benefits of solar power, because we know that clean energy is cheap energy; we know that the sun does not send a bill and the wind does not send an invoice. That is why the government will roll out 85 solar banks around Australia, to ensure more can take advantage of clean and more can take advantage of renewable energy while at the same time reducing their energy costs and easing the cost of living.

Which brings me to our next cost-of-living measure, a measure that is close to my heart as an emergency doctor who has seen firsthand the devastating impact that medication costs can have on patients and residents on the Central Coast—and indeed right across Australia. People are having to ration medications for their high blood pressure or for their hypercholesterolaemia, meaning that these chronic conditions that otherwise would have been medicated for become cerebrovascular accidents or strokes, or become acute myocardial infarctions or heart attacks. I'm proud to say that an Albanese Labor government, the members on this side of the House, will legislate that more medications will be more affordable for more Australians. The government will cut the cost of medications by reducing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme copayment from the current maximum of $42 50 per script to a maximum of $30 per script. Labor will always ensure Australians can access medications they need, when they need them. Labor has built Medicare and we will always protect and strive to strengthen our world-class healthcare system.

The fact is that the economic mismanagement of the Liberals and Nationals has left us with $1 trillion of debt and not a single cent of vision to show for it. Our economic plan is a deliberate and measured response to the economic circumstances that we inherited. It is our task to do what we can to help Australians deal with these pressures in the short term and build a more resilient economy. We will guide and steer our economy during this difficult period and build a future the Australian people and the people of Robertson deserve.

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