Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Boothby for her question. Indeed, our budget on Tuesday night was about helping people with their cost of living in a way that doesn't add to inflation but also about making our future here in Australia. It's a budget for every Australian, not just some—tax cuts for every single taxpayer, not just some; energy price relief for every household, not just some; stronger Medicare in every single community; more homes right around the country; a better deal for every working parent, with paid parental leave; more help for households who are doing it tough.

But we're also, while we're dealing with the immediate challenges, looking to the future. What does the economy look like due to the global changes that are occurring, and how do we set Australia up for success? We do that by making more things here in Australia, making sure that we take advantage of the opportunities which are there. For two years those opposite have said no to everything—no to cheaper medicines, no to helping people with their power bills, no to tax cuts for every taxpayer. And on budget night this year they said immediately—it didn't take them long; they haven't seen the legislation yet—that they're saying no to making more things here in Australia. They're saying no to Australian jobs. They're saying no to Australian ingenuity. They're saying, 'We should just export resources, wait for someone else to value-add and then import it back once the value has been added.'

They were a government, of course, that told the car industry to bugger off. They just told them to leave. And they got the message, and they left. But, of course, when the car industry left, it didn't just affect the people who were working in that industry; there was a multiplier impact—just like making more things here in Australia will have a multiplier impact. They drove the car industry out because they didn't want things built in Australia then, and they don't believe we can do it now. It's the same mob—the same coalition mentality—that has built trains that don't fit on stations, that are the wrong gauge and that don't work, and ferries that can't fit under bridges. They say we can't do it. Well, we have faith in the Australian people, in Australian workers and in Australian businesses. That's why Tuesday's budget will back them. (Time expired)

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