Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a festive time of the year. We celebrated Holi earlier this week. Easter is this weekend. Ramadan is less than a fortnight away, and in mid-April many in my community will be commemorating the Vaisakhi and Hindu and Sri Lankan new years. While festive seasons are times of joy and happiness, they are also periods when cost-of-living increases are acutely felt. This is something myself and everyone on this side of the chamber knows too well. Addressing these rises in prices has been at the front and centre of the Albanese Labor government's priorities even before we were elected to govern.

In my electorate, like others around the country, families are grappling with housing, health care, groceries and utilities becoming more expensive. As a government that is focused on ensuring no Australian is held back and none are left behind, we see it as our duty to support individuals and families in making ends meet and to provide them with the financial security and prosperity they need and deserve.

This is why I am proud to be part of a government that does not take this duty lightly, a fact made obvious by numerous initiatives we have taken to tackle the cost-of-living crisis that we inherited thanks to the inaction and apathy of those opposite. Our plan is very simple. We want people to earn more and we want people to keep more of what they earn. Our support for ensuring Australians, especially those who earn the least, continue to receive the pay rises they are entitled to has been non-negotiable since the initial days of this government.

The government's philosophy in its submissions to the Fair Work Commission's annual wage review have remained straightforward since 2022. We don't want Australia's low-paid workers to be earning less than they earned in the previous year in real terms. As someone who worked on the minimum wage for a decade and a half since I was 15 years old, being part of a government that values the work of Australia's lowest paid workers, like those in retail and fast food, is delightful, especially after nearly a decade of neglect by the coalition.

I am pleased that tomorrow the government will recommend that the Fair Work Commission safeguard the real wages of Australia's low-paid workers, a position consistent with the government's last two submissions to the commission, while this government's economic sharpness has begun showing results through progress on inflation and a return to real wage growth earlier than forecast. We are not ignorant to the fact that many Australians are still under pressure. We will continue to advocate for Australians to be able to earn more, and that's why we are focused on delivering strong and sustainable wage growth.

We want people in our community, in addition to earning more, to be able to keep more of what they earn. From 1 July this year, not only will every single Australian taxpayer receive a tax cut regardless of their income but 11.5 million Australians will also receive a bigger tax cut then they would have under the Liberals. These are not just numbers but real savings for real people. Labor's tax cuts will mean that nurses at Casey Hospital on $76,000 will save $1,600 a year. It will mean retail workers, like my former colleagues at Woolies, on $45,000 a year will be able to keep $800 more. It will mean IT workers living in my electorate earning $105,000 a year will have $2,300 more to spend on their families. This government will continue to support those who need it the most—hardworking families, like those in my electorate of Holt.

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