Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition may have had a change of leadership, but their propensity to reach for the vacuous headline completely devoid of substantive policy has not changed one iota. Unfortunately, the answer isn't as simple as a vacuous headline, and that's just it. Labor is committed to doing the hard work required because we care about anyone doing it tough. By contrast, the coalition's record is wholly one of opposing cost-of-living relief for all Australians. When we said we'd support a $1-an-hour wage rise for our lowest paid workers, the coalition said no. When we capped gas prices to help rein in energy prices, the coalition said no. And when we reformed industrial relations to fix a broken bargaining system, the coalition said no.

Let's cast our minds back. The paint was not even dry on the new Prime Minister's door when, on 3 June 2022, the new Albanese government recommended to the Fair Work Commission that the real wages of the lowest paid workers should not go backwards. He was already taking real and tangible steps to help Australian workers with their cost-of-living challenges. That was responsible action. Those opposite should heed the words of the Business Council of Australia, which said the following of our responsible action to get wages moving again:

A functioning enterprise bargaining system will lift productivity so employers can share the dividends of better performing workplaces with their teams through higher wages and better conditions.

Less obstruction, more construction, from those opposite—this government hit the ground running in May last year and has been acting responsibly to assist households in addressing cost-of-living challenges.

Let's consider our responsible action on energy. Australians have faced serious challenges caused partly by the opposition's nine-year-long serial failure to land an energy policy. We took action. Parliament was recalled in December and passed the gas market legislation, which will save households money on their energy bills. What was the position of the member for Hume on that bill? He opposed it. He voted against it. He opposed helping Australian families faced with rising energy bills and now stands here pretending—he's not here, in fact, but when he is here he pretends he wants to help those people at their kitchen tables.

We are taking responsible action on education and training. Fewer Australians will need to make hard choices about whether they can afford to engage in much-needed education and training to skill up for jobs today and for the jobs of the future, because we have announced 20,000 new university places and 180,000 fee-free TAFE places.

Responsible action on health: we have made pharmaceuticals and other health products cheaper through the PBS. Last October, I had a very illuminating conversation with a young man named Jake back in Hasluck. Jake has type 1 diabetes. He requires insulin monitoring products and up to three other prescriptions per month for associated health issues. Labor's policy to subsidise constant glucose monitoring products and to cut the maximum cost of PBS medication will save Jake hundreds of dollars a month, thousands of dollars per year, and there are a lot of Jakes out there who are a lot better off today. It is good policy.

We are taking responsible action on housing. We will soon have the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, which will fund social housing well into the future and take pressure off the market. That comes after a lost decade of minimal intervention and investment in social and affordable housing. Members opposite are happy to try to take political advantage of pressures in housing, but should they not be required to explain to their electorates and to my electorate where their investments were in 2013, where their investments were in 2014, 2015 and 2016? Where were your housing investments in 2017 and 2018? What about 2019? Where were you housing investments in 2020 and 2021? What about up to May 2022?

Well, I can tell the member for Hume that housing doesn't happen overnight. We needed that investment back then, and we need it today. Thankfully, Labor is taking a great deal of pressure off the market now. Ultimately, that will lead to a reduction in pressure on mortgages and rents because there'll be more availability. (Time expired)

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