Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We know people are doing it tough right now. It's harder to pay the mortgage, to pay the rent, to pay bills and to pay for the essentials. Australians are walking away from the supermarket now with much less in their shopping bags for the money they've spent than in the past. The Albanese Labor government is acutely aware of how difficult it is right now for people just to get by. We are absolutely focused on doing what we can to relieve the pressure.

You would know, Deputy Speaker Wilkie, that we're experiencing sustained and unprecedented pressure on global energy markets. Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine has pushed energy prices to historic highs all over the world. That's one of the big factors in energy prices. The Albanese government brought back parliament in December last year to actually take action on rising energy costs. We passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Energy Price Relief Plan) Bill 2022 to protect Australians from the worst of the rising energy costs. We delivered targeted relief on power bills to households receiving income support, to pensioners and Commonwealth seniors health card holders, to family tax benefit A and B recipients and to small-business customers. There is, no doubt, more work to do, but we took these actions to shield Australian families and businesses from the worst of the energy price spikes.

We're also delivering cheaper medicine. From 1 January this year, we reduced the maximum PBS co-payment from $42.50 to $30. Since then, Australians have paid up to 29 per cent less for their Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prescriptions. The maximum out-of-pocket cost for medicines on the PBS is now $12.50 lower. For a family relying on two or three medications—and there are many families that do rely on that—this can put as much as $450 back into their household budget. That's a significant assistance for those families. Over 3.2 million prescriptions were cheaper in the first two months of this year, and, thanks to our policy, patients have saved more than $36 million. We've also expanded access to the seniors healthcare card. More Australians can access cheaper medicine and visits to the GP.

We also fought for and secured a pay rise for 2.8 million workers on minimum wage. We've delivered fee-free TAFE, making it easier for people to invest in their skills and training. Our changes to child care, making it more affordable and accessible, come into effect on 1 July this year. We know there is much more to do. Reducing pressure and giving relief where we can as quickly as we can is what the Albanese Labor government is focused on and will continue to be focused on.

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