Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Can I start off by saying that everything we have done in this budget addresses cost-of-living pressures, and since coming to this office that's been the focus of this government. Even the choices that we're being criticised for by those on the other side have been put into place in an effort to take off pressures from the cost of living. One of our first acts as a government, in this place, was to put a submission to the Fair Work Commission that gave our lowest-paid Australians, the people that earn the least money of everyone, a $40 increase. That's putting money in their pockets.

We have come up with a raft of measures in this budget—for example, cheaper medicines, which save money for people who are on regular medication. As we heard earlier, we've reduced the co-payment to $30, taking up to $20, $30 and $40, in some cases, off medicines. Cheaper medicines mean that people have more money in their pockets and, at the same time, are not having to make the choice of whether to buy medicines or to pay for their food.

Cheaper child care is a big part of this budget in terms of tackling the cost of living. It enables people to go to work, especially in the feminised industries, by ensuring that they can have the correct child care that they require and are able to contribute to the economy, which puts more money in their pockets again. These are all measures that this government has taken to ensure that the cost-of-living pressures are lightened for families and people. Aged-care workers will get a 15 per cent pay increase. These are the people that look after our elderly loved ones. They get very, very low wages—as everyone knows in this place—yet do very important work. A 15 per cent increase in their pay is significant to assist with the cost of living.

Then we have the longer structural pieces in place in this budget—for example, building 30,000 affordable homes for people who can least afford to buy a home or to rent a home. Those 30,000 homes will mean an increase in building, construction jobs et cetera, which then helps the economy as well, and, of course, nearly a million homes in the near future will ease the housing pressures that we see in this country. Other long-term measures in this budget are 20,000 university places targeted at low socioeconomic status students and 100,000 fee-free TAFE places for people who couldn't afford to go to TAFE but need those skills to get a job or to get a better-paying job. These are important measures.

Nothing could be further from the truth than that this government's budget didn't address the cost of living; it has been at the forefront and the centre of this budget. I know many Australians are hurting. It's not to say that Australians aren't doing it tough; they are. We've seen the incompetency of the opposition when they were in government for nine years, not acting on the increase of wages to keep up with the cost of living, which is really the part that's hurting Australians. I know that this side of politics—this government—is doing everything it can to ensure that wages increase in line with the CPI to ensure that people have a decent wage to be able to pay their rent, to be able to buy their food and to be able to pay their school fees and all other costs that are required to run a household. That is important; it was at the centre of this budget. But in such times, when it is tough, with a war going on in the Ukraine and gas prices going through the roof, the worst thing we could do is make life harder for people. That's why the cost-of-living relief that we have provided in this budget takes this into account, and it is still substantial relief, in the order of about $7½ billion. It's timed and designed in such a way as to not add to the inflationary pressure that already exists in this country. That's really important—to do it in a methodical, measured way that doesn't put on added pressure into the future—to ensure that we can out of the current international situation that's taking place.

One of the fundamental policies of this budget was to increase wages, as I said, and job security. We wasted no time in arguing with the Fair Work Commission for an increase in pay for the minimum wage. This couldn't come at a more important time, and I'm proud to be part of this budget. (Time expired)

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