Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2023-2024, which is focused on making the lives of all Australians better. 'Stronger foundations for a better future' is not just a tag line. It is what drives us, and we are delivering a range of measures to create a better future and a better nation. The Albanese Labor government is listening to our community and is efficiently and effectively governing for everyone. We have passed more than 80 pieces of legislation, including bills that help ease cost-of-living pressures. Since the Australian people voted for a positive change in federal politics a year ago, we have been working hard to deliver exactly that, laying the foundations for a stronger and more resilient economy.

Families in my electorate of Pearce in Western Australia are grateful for the numerous measures that provide substantial cost-of-living relief in these very challenging global economic times. I hear their very positive feedback on the productive approach that this government is taking. I remind these families that I am here to be your voice in Canberra, and the Albanese government is here for you. We understand that Australians are under the pump. That is why our No. 1 priority is providing responsible targeted relief. Importantly, we are providing cost-of-living relief that is affordable and prioritises those who need it most. Our $14.6 billion cost-of-living plan will bring down out-of-pocket health costs, support vulnerable Australians, create more affordable housing, provide help with power bills and boost wages. We have delivered a carefully considered, responsible and practical budget to alleviate inflationary pressures in response to the current local and global financial conditions, while also laying the foundations for growth by supporting clean energy and investing in value-adding industries. We are investing in skills technology in small business and delivering historic investments in Medicare, making it cheaper and easier for Australians to see a doctor. This budget breaks down the barriers and helps those experiencing disadvantage and exclusion, ensuring that no-one is left behind.

The bill also strengthens the nation's budget. A surplus is forecast for this year, with less debt followed by smaller deficits when compared with recent budgets. We are continuing our robust progress on restoring Australia's economy from the mess we inherited from the coalition. It was an economy defined by a decade of stagnant wages, energy policy chaos, flatlining productivity, weak business investment and skills shortages. That is in stark contrast to the Albanese Labor government's past year in government, during which we have been kicking many goals.

To expand on health care we have committed a $2.2 billion package of measures to strengthen Medicare to make health care more accessible and affordable. We are making medicines cheaper and easier to access, a welcome move for all Australians who rely on medications. For the first time in 75 years the maximum cost of general scripts has gone down under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The maximum general co-payment has been reduced from $42.50 to $30 since 1 January. That means that a family with three scripts a month can now save around $300 to $400 a year. That cuts the cost of medicine by up to half for at least six million Australians. We are also making it easier for Australians to see a doctor when they need to, by improving after-hours access to primary care.

Out-of-pocket health costs are being further reduced by tripling bulk-billing incentives for GPs. This is the largest investment in bulk-billing in the history of Medicare, and a measure welcomed by Australian families. This measure also enables easier and cheaper access to health care by millions of Australians. That means better health care because people do not have to choose between their budgets and their health. Under this budget we have made medicines even cheaper by introducing 60-day dispensing. This means fewer visits to the pharmacy and one dispensing charge instead of two. This decision will include more than 300 common medicines which will be approved for two-month supply to patients. We listened to the advice of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. This will halve the number of visits to GPs, so that patients whose condition is stable and who have been on their medicines for some time will have greater convenience and lower costs. It will reduce the pressure on our busy general practices.

The move to 60-day dispensing has been welcomed by the Consumers Health Forum and by the communities. The CHF is the national peak body for Australian health consumers, and the forum has found that many people are struggling as cost-of-living pressures bite. They are having to choose between buying family essentials and buying the medicines they need. This is simply not a situation our government would like Australians to be in, and that is why we are taking decisive action to improve access to cheaper medicines and health care.

We have committed $11.3 billion over four years to fund the outcome of the Fair Work Commission's record 15 per cent pay rise for 250,000 aged-care workers across the country from 1 July 2023. This is a move that is long overdue and will help restore dignity for both aged-care workers and the elderly Australians that they care for. We are also making life easier for thousands of single-parent families by extending their financial safety net. We are raising the cut-off age for the youngest child for the single parenting payment from eight years to 14 years. That will ensure that mothers and fathers raising children by themselves can have a sense of financial security. On all fronts, we are continuing our fiscally responsible governance as we work to recover from the pandemic and the effects of global instability.

The world has experienced the largest energy shock since the oil crisis in the 1970s due to Russia 's invasion of Ukraine. As a government we have had to respond appropriately. We have taken action to remove some of the bite from higher power prices by providing relief to over five million households and one million small businesses. Under the Albanese Labor government's energy price relief plan, every household in WA will receive a $400 electricity credit with targeted electricity support, totalling $826 for those households in most need. The scheme will be delivered in partnership with the Western Australia government. Around 90,000 small businesses in WA meeting the definition of an electricity small customer will receive quarterly bill relief of $650, automatically, from 1 July 2023.

This budget supports pensioners, renters and parents. We are responsibly increasing the base rate for JobSeeker and other payments for 1.1 million people. We have successfully argued for a minimum wage increase. We have passed legislation to get wages moving again. We are looking after those who need it most. We have invested in fee-free TAFE and VET places to ensure we have the necessary workforce for our economy and to ensure skills and education are accessible for everyone. In addition to the 180,000 fee-free TAFE places we initially funded, we have, under the budget, funded an additional 300,000 fee-free TAFE places.

We have legislated cheaper child care. Thousands of families in Pearce are set to benefit from the scheme from 1 July. The changes will cut costs by about $1,700 per year for the average family, earning $120 a year, who have a child in care three days a week. Ninety-six per cent of families in the system will be better off under Labor's changes, and no family will be worse off. Cheaper child care is another way we are easing cost-of-living pressures on families and making it easier for parents to return to paid work or to work more paid hours if they wish to. I know that families in Pearce are awaiting cheaper child care to help with their family budget.

We want to save Australian manufacturers. We are investing in our nation. We have a plan. We are investing $20 billion in Rewiring the Nation, a quarter of a billion dollars in community batteries for 100,000 households and $25 billion in reducing emissions for clean energy and market stability. There's over $60 million for small businesses to become more energy efficient, half a billion dollars in the Driving the Nation Fund and over $100 million for community solar banks to benefit 25,000 households.

I am also proud that this budget delivers for women. Equality for women is at the heart of what we do as a Labor government. This budget provides for a significant investment in Australian women. We are delivering programs and policies that are designed to permanently shift the dial on women's equality and to last long beyond the term of this parliament. We are investing in addressing violence against women. We are modernising paid parental leave, improving gender pay gap transparency and preventing sexual harassment at work. The majority of care workers are women and they will benefit from the 15 per cent aged-care pay rise. We are also supporting women's economic equality and helping to close the gender gap with investments to support highly feminised workforces.

There's around $4 billion being invested to increase funding to government and community organisations through reforms to indexation, including for organisations delivering women's safety initiatives. Many of these services also have highly feminised workforces. There's $8.6 million for the Australian Skills Guarantee, including national targets for women in apprenticeships, traineeships and cadetships. There's $72.4 million to build and retain the early childhood education and care workforce, 92 per cent of whom are women.

There's $67.5 million to support homelessness services during the transition to the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement. This supports jobs that are overwhelmingly done by women, including assisting women and children who are experiencing domestic and family violence. There's $91.3 million to a better mental health care workforce, through additional psychology placements, 80 per cent of whom are women.

The Albanese Labor government is making investments to support women's health and wellbeing, including $26.4 million to support health and medical research focusing on women's health to develop targeted treatments and improve health outcomes; and $16.8 million to introduce a new MBS item for an EndoPredict brand gene expression profile test to determine a patient's risk of recurrent breast cancer. As a survivor of breast cancer, I absolutely welcome that investment. I commend this bill.

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