Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'll start by saying that I know that families and households are doing it really tough at the moment, and it's a really challenging time. All households recognise that the cost of living has gone up, and it is an issue that my electorate talks to me about when I go doorknocking. However, I will remind the member for Hughes that, unfortunately, we've wasted a decade, with the coalition asleep at the wheel. A government needs to not only deal with the issues of the day but also plan for the future, and frankly, the coalition government had no plan for the future. The Albanese Labor government is cleaning up this mess.

Following the member for Hughes's political theatre metaphor, let's reflect on that: act 1, failure of the coalition to balance the budget; act 2, failure to create a single energy policy despite there being over 30 attempts to create a plan and not one effective policy to show for it. Act three: a failure to get wages moving again, and, instead, suggesting that low wage growth is a deliberate design feature of our economic architecture. You'd think the acts would end at the election of the Albanese Labor government, but there's an act four: the failure of the coalition opposition to even hold the seat of Aston. You have to credit their optimism, though. Before racking up $894 billion of debt, they bought themselves these mugs saying, 'back in black'. They're the masters of theatrics but not of substance—as Paul Keating would say, 'All tip, no iceberg,' or as Kathleen Studdert from Professionals Australia said, 'All mug and no coffee.'

It's no surprise that when we look around the mainland of this country that it's wall-to-wall Labor governments, because when it comes to action on the cost of living, Australians cannot trust Liberals. Debt and financial mismanagement is part of the Liberals' DNA. In WA, the powerhouse of our economy, we saw a boom squandered and our AAA credit rating lost by the Barnett Liberal government. But, of course, we've seen these characteristics in the previous coalition government. We saw not one or two billion but $13 billion worth of JobKeeper payments go to companies that increased their sales between April and September 2021. This happened without a single thought on whether they should pay this back, and, meanwhile, instead, we had debt collectors relentlessly pursuing individuals for $32 million in JobKeeper for overpayments.

Meanwhile, Labor is wanting to have targeted cost-of-living relief, and we're being careful to make sure that we don't feed the inflation dragon. I'll talk to what the Albanese Labor government is doing to help the people of Australia. In my electorate of Swan, we saw $442,439 put back into the pocket of those with prescriptions, thanks to our cheaper medicine policy. Tonight in the budget we will deliver further savings to households when it comes to hundreds of medicines. The Albanese Labor Government is easing the cost-of-living pressures for millions of Australians by allowing them to buy two months of eligible medicines for the price of a single prescription. Concession cardholders could save up to $43.80 a year per medicine, while others could save up to $180.

Our cheaper child care will benefit 1.2 million families from 1 July. We know that this will help ease the financial stress for families across the country, and 96 per cent of families will be better off financially through our increases to the childcare rebate. We're getting wages moving again. Australians on minimum wage received a 5.1 per cent pay rise at the outset of the Albanese Labor government. I know that some weren't prepared to support our lowest paid workers' pay increase of $1 an hour. Those on minimum wage have played important roles during the pandemic.

The Albanese Labor government supports aged-care workers. Last week the Minister for Aged Care announced an $11.3 billion package to deliver a 15 per cent pay increase to the award wage for aged-care workers. We're doing this because our aged-care workers deserved reward and recognition, for the important, invaluable role that they play in our community. We're working on the job of helping Australia.

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