Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

It takes a remarkable level of cognitive dissonance to walk into this place and accuse the Labor government of not doing enough to help vulnerable Australians when the Greens party—and the Greens MPs in particular—spent their weekend dispatching their volunteers to try and block the affordable housing bill in Labor seats across the country. And while the member for Griffith himself, I'm sure, is about to talk about the need for alleviating poverty, he has been spending his time doorknocking electorates like mine to try and convince my constituents to encourage me to block an affordable housing bill that will make a very real difference and build 20,000 affordable homes across the country, including 4,000 homes for women fleeing DV and for older women at risk of homelessness—a fund that will fund 10,000 affordable rentals to alleviate crippling rental stress and $200 million to repair remote Indigenous housing. That is what they are spending their time encouraging their volunteers to try and persuade us not to do. It is a remarkable level of cognitive dissonance.

I will not be taking a lecture on housing affordability from the lord of the NIMBYs over there, who currently is opposing the construction of more than 470 new affordable homes and units in his electorate—I believe it's more than 1,300 all up—because it would create further congestion. I believe, as reported in the Australian Financial Review, that he is opposing more than 1,300 affordable homes in his own electorate because it would create further congestion and be a missed opportunity to extend parkland. That is a level of cognitive dissonance that it is difficult for us to process in the wake of the housing crisis in this country and given, supposedly, a sincere desire to alleviate poverty in this country—that you would oppose that, and spend your time to do that, instead of actually working to create more affordable housing in your own electorate.

I think the member for Griffith needs to atone to his own constituents. I'm sure that he promised in the election that he would spend his time campaigning for his people and working on issues that are important to the residents of Griffith. So why is he spending his time focused on the Canberra bubble, seeking to point-score against progressive women in a Labor government, instead of doing actual, tangible things to improve housing affordability in this country, like supporting Labor's affordable housing bill? He is all show, no pony; all sizzle, no steak. His focus seems entirely based upon point scoring in the Canberra bubble rather than genuinely trying to do anything to alleviate poverty either across the country or for the people that he sought to represent.

This budget provides real, tangible, responsible relief to people who need it—people like Maureen from Everton Park, who came to one of my mobile offices two weeks ago begging for help. Maureen is 54 years old. She juggles four or five part-time jobs to supplement her jobseeker allowance. She has no job security. She has shifts regularly cancelled at the last minute. Maureen is a domestic violence survivor, and she said to me that survivors 'have had the strength to leave and to try and raise children outside of violence, and our options are homelessness or suicide'. On top of that, Maureen has struggled to access any kind of bulk-billing health care for years. I said to Maureen: 'I have heard you and I see you, and we will not forsake you.'

The centrepiece of the Albanese government's second budget is a $14.6 billion cost-of-living package over four years that will ease pressure on people like Maureen while putting downward pressure on inflation. Almost 66,000 Lilley residents like Maureen will find it easier to find a bulk-billing GP, thanks to our record investment in Medicare. More than 7,600 people in Lilley will receive a $40 increase in their fortnightly Centrelink payment, with mature-age people like Maureen receiving an additional $92. More than 9,000 renters in Lilley like Maureen will benefit from a 15 per cent boost to the maximum rate of rental assistance. There are 500 single parents in Lilley with kids aged from 8 to 14 who will now receive an extra $176 a fortnight. Around 1.1 million households across Queensland will receive a $500 energy rebate, applied quarterly, from 1 July. And, for survivors of domestic violence like Maureen, we are extending the domestic violence payment, so that they are not forced to stay with their abusers because they cannot afford to leave.

The Albanese Labor government's second budget sees people through difficult times and sets our country up for the future. It helps Australians doing it tough, and it makes significant inroads in cleaning up the mess that we inherited from the coalition. Our aim throughout, whether it's our cost-of-living package, our broader investments in energy or our other efforts to grow the economy, is to make sure that this budget is part of the solution to high inflation and cost-of-living pressures, not adding to the problem. We are delivering more support for the most vulnerable in our country and in our communities because we know that they are doing it tough, and that is possible thanks to the way that we have responsibly managed this budget. These increases are responsible and these increases are targeted to help vulnerable Australians under the pump.

In the grand tradition of Labor governments that help those in need, this budget delivers $11.3 billion to improve life for aged-care workers, who for too long have been overlooked and undervalued. That lack of value and that lack of care ends now. It ends with this budget. We are turning the corner on aged care. We went to the polls on a promise to restore dignity to aged care, and now we are delivering on that promise with a record $36 billion investment in aged care in this budget. That is what Labor does: it supports people who need supporting.

That starts with our $11.3 billion commitment to fund the 15 per cent pay rise. For too long, aged-care workers have been overworked and undervalued. I know that because, back in 2021, I spoke to one of the aged-care workers from Queensland, who told me that she thought she had had one pay rise in the seven years prior and that it was about 25c. She said that she loved her residents but she felt like her boss exploited that love, because love doesn't pay the rent. I wish I could go back and talk to that aged-care worker again because now, as of last night, she could be getting a pay rise of $10,000 a year under this budget.

We anticipate that this pay rise will attract 10,000 workers to the sector, improving life for the aged-care workers and for the residents that they love to care for. This funding package is 10 times more than the previous government's investment in the workforce pillar. It will significantly help providers and facilities meet the 24/7 nursing requirements, it will help our care minutes increase in our residential aged-care facilities and it will ultimately help all older Australians to be safer and receive a higher standard of care. This funding signifies real progress towards genuinely valuing our aged-care workers, some of the lowest-paid workers in this country and some of those people who have been living in poverty while doing the job that they love. We are putting $11.3 billion towards giving them a pay rise. We recognise their dedication. We're rewarding them for their skilled and complex work and the care that they provide to older Australians. Our funding will benefit over a quarter of a million low-paid workers, with nurses receiving up to $10,000 extra per year and personal care workers earning an extra $7,000 per year if they're paid on the award.

I have visited 30 aged-care homes in the 11 months since becoming the minister, and the most common issue raised by staff and residents to me is workforce shortages. We have heard residents and staff. We are putting our money where our mouth is. This record and historic investment is to pay for a 15 per cent pay rise to the award wage, the largest in the history of the Fair Work Act.

And this announcement will help close the gender pay gap. More than 85 per cent of the aged-care workforce is female, and, for decades, this care economy has been undervalued.

This is what alleviating poverty in this country looks like. It looks like valuing the people that work in the care economy. It looks like paying them properly. It looks like putting in place the supports that allow their working ecosystem to flourish. It looks like valuing their work and valuing the sector that they work in and preparing it for the future ahead.

It is the Albanese government that is improving the care economy. It is the Albanese government making record investments to improve the dignity of some of our most vulnerable Australians. We are ambitious for aged care. The Albanese government's historic billions of dollars' worth of funding, including the $36 billion that was in the budget on Tuesday night, will help improve safety and quality of life for older people, just as the royal commission asked us to. Our budget, as handed down last night, will help improve the lives of the most vulnerable Australians in this country—particularly those who do some of the most important work in this country, in our care economy.

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