Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Hansard source

I wasn't sure if the member for Hume would hang on for his MPI today or get himself packing to avoid the scrutiny, but it appears he is still here at the moment. Are you staying, member for Hume, or going? He's going. He's so deeply interested in this topic, so deeply interested in his own MPI that he's leaving the chamber now. But here we all are, having been reminded of the many ways the opposition is standing in the way of cost-of-living relief to working families in Australia.

Having torched the place with a decade of junk economics, they now have the gall to stand in the way of a proper economic strategy, relief from cost-of-living pressure in a way that does not add to a nation, repair of the budget position and supply chains, the first surplus in 15 years, and reform which lays the foundation for future growth. This is the work of a serious government—hard choices taken to ease financial pressure on Australians and set up our economy for the long term. I acknowledge the leadership of our economics team in this work. I suggest that the Australian community has seen through the bluff and the bluster and the confected outrage of the other side. The good people of Dunkley certainly have. Let me take the chance to put my congratulations to the member for Dunkley, Jodie Belyea, on the record. She will be a fantastic local member for her community.

As for the other side, it looks like they have already bailed out. They have suffered through the rubbish of the member for Hume, holding their breath, hoping he doesn't start talking about Vegemite again, breathing a sigh of relief when it's over and then quickly running for the door, where they've all just gone.

I'd like to add a small detail to the member's speech, something about his own community, just up the road in New South Wales. There are some 79,000 taxpayers in the member for Hume's electorate, and 68,000 of them will be better off under the Labor's tax cuts than they would have been under the Liberals' plan. For those without a calculator, 68,000 is 86 per cent. In my electorate on the Central Coast of New South Wales, it's 88 per cent—hardworking teachers, nurses, food manufacturers and others who deserve the financial relief that tax cuts will bring. The hardworking staff from Warnervale Public School, whom I welcomed here to Parliament House yesterday with their students, are among the 88 per cent of workers in my community of Dobell who are better off under Labor's tax cuts. This fact repeats over and over around the country, which is why, for all their bluff and bluster and confected outrage, the opposition actually voted for this change. They voted for this change.

The Albanese government wants Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn, and our bigger tax cuts for more taxpayers will help make this happen. Labor's legislation will deliver a tax cut for every taxpayer, and more tax relief for more people to help with the cost of living. As we know, and as the Treasurer says each day, people are still under pressure, and there is more to do. Anyone who listens to their communities understands this deeply. Again, I echo the words of the Prime Minister: it's not the job of a leader to sit back and wring their hands when confronted with new challenges; it's their job to act, to take responsibility and to do the right thing. That is exactly what we're doing with rent assistance, fee-free TAFE, energy bill reductions, housing and, of course, wages.

We said we'd get real wages moving again, and we are. Real wages growth is back and ahead of schedule. Annual real wages grew at the end of last year. The most recent wage figures show a 0.9 per cent rise in the wage price index for the December quarter, meaning wages were 4.2 per cent higher through the year—the equal-fastest annual growth since 2009. This is the first time since 2018 we have seen three consecutive quarters of real wages growth. On this note I will mention aged-care workers, and the invaluable contribution they've made and the proper recognition they will now receive for the work they do providing dignity to older Australians. Since the election, nominal wages have been growing at an annualised average of four per cent—almost double the average under those opposite. We've turned that around in less than two years. The Liberals want people working longer for less, and that meant annual real wages were falling 3.4 per cent, as the Treasurer said in question time today, when we came to office after a decade of deliberate—and this was by design—wage suppression and stagnation.

I turn now to an area of responsibility I have in the health portfolio where major government initiatives are helping ease pressure on Australians: restoring and strengthening Medicare, bringing bulk-billing back from the absolute brink it was at under those opposite, supporting the health workforce and growing access to free, quality urgent care services under Medicare. I've said before that physical and mental health have particular importance in this discussion because health outcomes aren't just a result of access to clinical care, as important as that is; financial security or insecurity itself is a direct driver and important determinant of physical and mental health. Those with financial security generally have better health than those without. Those in work generally have better mental health than those looking for work. As I said, in mental health, when you're under financial strain you are much more likely to experience distress. We see the cost-of-living agenda as a health agenda too, and the government's record investment in Medicare shows how deeply seriously we are taking this task.

Under Labor we have brought bulk-billing back to the beating heart of Medicare. In the first two months since the tripling of the GP bulk-billing incentive, we have stopped the absolute freefall that bulk-billing was in under the former government and seen a big increase in the number of Australians getting their GP appointments for free. This is a health measure, this is a cost-of-living measure and this is making a difference in communities right around the country. We should never have Australians putting off visits to the doctor because they simply can't afford to go. It is estimated some 360,000 additional GP consultations were bulk-billed in the first two months of this policy, saving Australians some $15 million in gap fees. I look forward to more data showing more Australians benefiting from bulk-billed GP appointments.

In addition to bulk-billed GP appointments, Australians are also benefiting from quality, free health care at 58 Medicare urgent care clinics—more than the number promised in our election commitment and with further growth to come, as the Prime Minister confirmed in question time today. So far there have been more than 225,000 presentations to Medicare urgent care clinics across the country since the first Medicare urgent care clinic opened its doors in June last year. Across the country this represents an estimated potential saving to public hospital emergency departments of over $60 million in avoided patient episodes. This is a health measure and this is a cost-of-living measure, and this is making a real difference to Australians.

Working families have been the main beneficiary of this landmark investment in Medicare. More than one in four patients presenting to urgent care clinics across the country have been under 15. More than one in four visits have taken place over the weekend, and on weekdays one in four visits have taken place after five o'clock. This is showing the real difference. This is a health measure and this is a cost-of-living measure that Australians all around the country are benefiting from.

Labor members in this place are laser focused on practical measures to ease cost-of-living pressure and to set our economy up for a fairer and stronger future. As we know, growth in the Australian economy is subdued but steady in the face of higher interest rates, high but moderating inflation and ongoing global uncertainty. The UK finished the year in recession. Around a quarter of G20 nations have recorded a technical recession or narrowly avoided one. Against that backdrop, the Australian economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the December quarter to be 1.5 per cent higher through the year. It does not help to have the opposition and the member for Hume—who has left the chamber, despite having carriage of this MPI today, and all his bluff and bluster about the Treasurer not being here, whilst he can't remain for his own MPI in the chamber—

Good to see! Thank you very much, Member for New England—who is holding up the coalition at this point in time! I mean, this is a perilous place for us all to be on a Tuesday afternoon!

Against this backdrop, the Australian economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the December quarter, to be 1.5 per cent higher through the year. It does not help to have the opposition here—held up by the member for New England!—scurrying around on a scare campaign, the member for Hume trying to impress his colleagues, sitting idly by. This Labor government is improving cost of living. (Time expired)

See this speech in context