Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

MITCHELL () (): I thank the member for Mallee for her speech. It's almost like the Liberals and Nationals weren't in government over the last decade. You had the chance, Member for Mallee. One of the biggest challenges which we face and which every Australian is facing at the moment is the cost of living. The message I get loud and clear in my electorate is that the cost of living is biting. There's been an increase in inflation worldwide as we come out of a global pandemic and due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These are issues we can't control, but we are impacted by them. We can't ignore them, and we're facing them head-on. We're targeting the things we can control without increasing inflation further, and that's just what this budget does: it provides cost-of-living relief to those who need it most without putting pressure on inflation.

One way that we're addressing cost-of-living pressures is to get wages moving again, helping to counteract inflation with our Secure Jobs, Better Pay bill that went through the parliament last year. And we're proud. We are loud and proud, as the Prime Minister was in question time today, holding up that dollar coin. We are proud to be the party of higher wages. It's in our DNA. From the shearers strike in Queensland all those years ago, the Labor Party was born on the issues of higher wages and better conditions for working Australians. The Albanese Labor government's Secure Jobs, Better Pay act is lifting wages, improving job security and helping close the gender pay gap. For a decade, those opposite were deliberately keeping wages low. You can't say this often enough: it was deliberate. It wasn't an accident. It was actually their policy, which they didn't want to tell Australians initially. Their policy was to keep Australians' wages suppressed. This government has a different agenda. We are supporting higher wages, and we are proud to support higher wages for Australian workers and their families.

We've brought in other measures as well. From 1 July, families are set to benefit from the Albanese Labor government's Cheaper Child Care scheme. These changes will cut costs by about $1,700 a year for the average family that earns $120,000 per year and that has a child in care three days a week. Ninety-six per cent of families in the system are better off under Labor's changes, and not one is worse off. I know local families are counting down the days as we look forward to more affordable early education and care in the new financial year. This will bring real cost-of-living relief to many local families and an opportunity for more families to work, grow and thrive in my wonderful electorate, particularly in those growing family suburbs on the margins of my electorate.

I've spoken to many of my constituents in recent weeks who are worried about receiving their next quarterly power bill. Rising power prices are indeed amongst the biggest burdens on Australian families and Australian businesses. Around 143,000 households in Tasmania will be eligible to receive rebates on their electricity bills under the Albanese government's Energy Price Relief Plan as announced in the 9 May budget. Households and businesses may be eligible for the rebate of up to $500 off power bills. These rebates will take the sting out of those power price rises in late 2023 and early 2024, when the increases are expected to be the most acute. Pensioners, veterans, seniors and other concession card holders, as well as recipients of the carer allowance, family tax benefit and anyone eligible for existing state and territory electricity concession schemes, will be eligible for the rebate. This is responsible and targeted cost-of-living relief. I know it will make a meaningful difference to the households who need it most and to the businesses in our community. It's got to be said again: in December, we were passing a bill through this parliament to get energy relief for households and businesses, and those opposite, who are the first to the dispatch box every question time to talk about power prices, voted against the energy relief plan. They should hang their heads in shame.

At the last election, Labor said that we would strengthen Medicare, and we are delivering on that promise. We created Medicare, we believe in Medicare and we want to make sure that it's here for many years to come. We are strengthening Australia's healthcare system. We are making sure that Australians can access the care they need when they need it most. We heard from previous speakers. The member for Hawke gave a most excellent speech just previously, talking about how, under the former government, Medicare was left to wither on the vine through wilful neglect by those opposite, underfunding and underresourcing. They couldn't kill it stone dead like they really wanted to, so they tried to kill it through death by a thousand cuts, as we saw over their nine years in government. We are committed to restoring Medicare to its rightful place as the universal health system for Australia.

We've already saved Australians money through our cheaper medicines policy, which came in on 1 January. Now Labor is taking the hassle out of putting in scripts and is making medicines even cheaper. Patients will no longer be required to attend a pharmacy every month and will now be able to fill a script for two months at a time. That's fewer visits to the doctor each time you need a prescription, fewer visits to pharmacies and fewer fees. In turn, that should hopefully ease the pressure on GPs and patients, who are currently facing long waiting lists for an appointment. It's all part of a holistic approach. We've cut the cost of medicines, we're helping GPs to invest in their practices, we're opening Australia's first endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics and we're opening bulk-billed urgent care clinics across the country. I know we are also looking at extending scope of practice for other health professionals. We are looking at everything we can do to strengthen access to health, particularly in regional areas like my electorate. We are absolutely determined to improve the mess that was left to us after nine long years of those opposite neglecting this issue.

I draw your attention to the contribution from the member for Mallee, who talked about the dearth of GPs across the regions. She is absolutely right: there is a dearth. Frankly, it's worldwide. It's Australia-wide, certainly, and no more acute than in the regions, where we are finding it hard to not only recruit GPs but also retain those that we have. This is an issue that hasn't popped up overnight. It hasn't just popped up over the last year. Those opposite had nine years in government to work on this, to find solutions, and they just sat on their hands. It falls to us to fix this problem that we have inherited.

Our investment in tripling the bulk-billing incentive for GPs will mean children and concession card holders will find it easier to see a bulk-billing doctor. Mary in Bridgewater recently visited my office to tell me that her doctor is no longer bulk-billing her regular appointments to get her prescriptions filled. We are confident that our increased incentive will give more doctors the option to return to bulk-billing for under-16s and concession card holders. This, in addition to Mary soon being able to collect a 60-day supply of her regular medication, will save her trips to the doctor and pharmacies, allow her to keep more of her money and cause her less inconvenience. The Albanese Labor government is strengthening our healthcare system for all Australians.

High demand and limited supply of housing have caused costs to soar. Waiting lists for social and affordable housing are out of control. We have people sofa hopping and vulnerable people unable to leave potentially violent situations and facing an awful reality: does a woman become homeless with her kids and have nowhere to live or does she stay with an abusive partner? That's a choice no-one should have to make. We have people living in tents and families relying on their older parents. Sarah is a single parent who recently contacted me. Not only has she recently moved into an affordable rental home but she will be better off with an increase in her single parent payment and rental assistance. She told me she was one of the lucky ones to get her new home and she has a friend in the area still on the waiting list who is in a vulnerable and volatile situation. Immediate action is required to help these people.

We know that the main responsibility for housing provision lies with the states and territories, and I have to say that the Tasmanian Liberal government has absolutely failed the people of Tasmania. The emergency housing list and the public housing list have blown out after nine long years of the Liberals in office in Tasmania. They're just doing nothing. They've got a plan. They've got a target. They're nowhere close to achieving it. Immediate action is required.

Of course, the Labor party went to the last federal election, last May, with a well-thought-out plan, the Housing Australia Future Fund and associated issues, and it's still being blocked in the Senate by the Liberals and the Greens. They're both blocking a plan that will deliver 30,000 homes over five years, including 4,000 homes for women and children escaping domestic violence. I understand that the Liberals and Nationals opposite are ideologically opposed to public housing, but the Greens? They once again are allowing their version of what they think is the perfect to be the enemy of the good. They'd rather seem to make no progress at all on the provision of this housing than have some progress. I know the member for Griffith will be here soon for his contribution, and I say to the member for Griffith, who is the housing spokesman for the Greens: just get out of the way. By all means stand and make your speeches. Say Labor should be doing more. You've got every right to do it. But don't stop us providing much-needed housing which will make a material difference to the lives of vulnerable people who need a roof over their heads. It can happen. Once that bill is through this parliament, there's $500 million a year every year for housing. Get out of the way and let it go through. We are not here to play with people's lives. Precious time is being wasted as the housing crisis continues. I implore those opposite and the Greens to put the politics aside for our most vulnerable people and get this bill through the Senate.

We're also making it easier for people to get onto the property ladder with our First Home Guarantee, the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee and the Family Home Guarantee for single parents. All of these measures are helping to get people into homes. Whether they are renters or buyers, it helps people get onto the ladder of homeownership or home rental. The Albanese government is also helping more Australians into homeownership sooner through a significant expansion of criteria for the Home Guarantee Scheme. Eligibility criteria have been expanded for all elements of a number of guarantees and schemes, and we are absolutely continuing to address these housing challenges. As I say, this is a matter that's traditionally rested with states and territories, but they've failed abysmally—no more so than in Tasmania—so we have to step in and we are stepping in.

From 1 July this year, friends, siblings and other family members will be eligible for joint applications under the First Home Guarantee and the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee. These had previously been restricted to people who were married or in a de facto relationship in addition to single applicants. The guarantees will also be expanded to non-first-home-buyers who haven't owned a property in Australia in the past 10 years. This will support those who have fallen out of homeownership, often due to financial crisis or relationship breakdown. Modern families come in all sorts of configurations, and the great Australian dream of homeownership should not be out of the grasp of anyone.

Our budget on 9 May has delivered $1.5 billion in new investment in agriculture, including a sustainable biosecurity funding model for the very first time in our nation's history. This new funding helps ensure that agriculture is protected from short- and long-term threats such as exotic pests, disease and climate change as well as helps to grow the industry through access to more workers and overseas trade markets. As well as the additional $1 billion for agriculture, funding continues for the rollout of key forestry initiatives, including grants to improve innovation, the National Institute for Forest Products Innovation and plantation establishment grants. Forestry in Tasmania is a sustainable practice. It's vital to supply timber to the national market, and we absolutely need to see it continue. Tasmania already has tough biosecurity measures in place to protect our flora, fauna and agriculture businesses—and it's helped by a nice, big water border—and to make such an investment shows that we are serious about protecting and growing our world-class agriculture.

I'm proud to stand here in support of the budget that the Treasurer delivered. It's a good budget. It's a good Labor budget. It delivers cost relief to where it's need most. We're proud of our record over the past year, our first year, but there's no party. We're not popping any champagne corks, and we're certainly not breaking out any cigars. We know there's a lot of work to be done for those who need it most. We stand with the Australian people to make sure that no-one gets left behind, and we'll work so hard for a better future for all Australians.

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