Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know very well that too many households in Moreton are feeling the pressure of rising cost-of-living expenses. These are very tough times. That's why in this year's budget the Treasurer, my good friend Jim Chalmers, announced a $14.6 billion cost-of-living package to assist household budgets. It includes a record investment in bulk-billing; making medicines cheaper for around six million Australians; increasing the base rate of JobSeeker and youth allowance; the largest increase to Commonwealth rent assistance in almost 30 years; increasing the cut-off age for youngest children for single parent payment eligibility to 14; and up to $3 billion off electricity bills, through the Energy Bill Relief Fund. Hopefully, this is relief that some people in my community have now started to see if their latest power bills.

We're also investing in renewable projects, which is starting to have a positive effect already. As every sensible Australian knows, as anyone who understands electricity generation knows, that was always going to happen eventually. Renewables don't cost as much, so the companies don't have to charge as much. The wholesale electricity price is now at $108 a megawatt, compared to $264 a megawatt in the June quarter of 2022. Gas was at $31.76 in May last year; the August average is $10.73.

Another thing that helps with the cost of living is having a secure job, obviously. The unemployment rate is now at 3.5 per cent; it was 3.9 per cent when we came into office. The participation rate is at 66.8 per cent, up from 66.4 per cent. The gender pay gap is down, from 14.1 per cent to 13.3 per cent. The number of women employed full time is up, from 3.6 million to 3.9 million. The number of long-term unemployed is down, from 122,000 to 100,000. Annual wage growth has risen, from 2.4 per cent up to 3.7 per cent. Remember the coalition's design feature of trying to suppress wages.

We're also delivering on training and skills, which is so important for the nation's future prosperity. We've done this by offering fee-free TAFE courses, as we're in need of more skilled labour. We're also making university accessible for more people. In relation to industrial disputes, there were 128,000 days lost in the June quarter of last year; in the March quarter, based on the latest figures available, it was 7,700. That's good news for the nation and bad news for all the wet blankets opposite.

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