Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to stand here today, in this debate on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2024-2025, to talk about the federal budget, which delivers for both Australia and Tasmania. Good economic management and addressing the cost of living with commonsense, practical measures are at the heart of the Labor government's third budget, delivered on 14 May by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. We know that Australians continue to do it tough from the enduring impacts of inflation and the household pressures that arose from two years of the global COVID pandemic. That's why our Labor government continues to offer cost-of-living relief. As the Prime Minister said to the Press Club in January this year, we, as politicians, cannot say, 'We are aware of the cost of living, and we are just sorry but we are not in a position to do anything about it.' He went on to say:

I'm the Prime Minister. I am in a position to do something about it. We are doing something about it. And it's the right thing to do.

They're good words to heed.

Our Labor budget delivers tax cuts for every taxpayer, power-bill relief for every household, more bulk-billed Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, more cheaper medicines, and student debt relief—all while keeping downward pressure on inflation. In two years of Labor government, we have already delivered more jobs, higher wages and bigger tax cuts than any first-term Australian government since Federation. And our Future Made in Australia plan shows that we've also got a plan to keep growing our economy and ensure that young Australians can look forward to better, higher-paying jobs.

When the Liberals lost office, inflation had a six in front of it. Now it's a three, and we're working to get it even lower. Real wages have gone up for three consecutive quarters, and our closing of loopholes means fewer Aussies are getting ripped off at work. Labor has delivered two budget surpluses in two years, when the Liberals delivered zero in 10—and they call themselves the party of better economic management! Give me a break!

On 1 July, the Albanese Labor government will proudly deliver tax cuts for every single Australian taxpayer and bigger tax cuts for most. In fact, 11.5 million Australian taxpayers—that's 84 per cent—will get a bigger tax cut under Labor than they would have under the Liberals' discarded stage 3, and 2.9 million Australian workers earning under $45,000 will get a tax cut under Labor, when, under the Liberals' stage 3, they would have received absolutely zero. In Lyons, the average tax cut will be $1,279 a year, with nine in 10 taxpayers in my electorate getting bigger tax cuts than under the Liberals. In fact, most taxpayers in Lyons will see their tax cuts doubled under Labor. A two-income household on average wages is looking at a tax cut of $2,600. That's real money going back into household budgets.

In our budget, we also deliver power bill relief. Every household gets $300 off their power bill, and eligible small businesses will get $325. That builds on the $250 energy bill relief that we delivered last year, which the Liberals voted against. Compare our plan to deliver power bill relief and to deliver cheaper, cleaner renewable energy with the nonsense from the opposition leader. Opposition Leader Dutton says he's committed to rolling out nuclear power but won't say when, where, how much it will cost or who will pay. The CSIRO has reported this week that nuclear power in Australia will be at least twice as expensive as renewables, and that means higher power bills under the Liberals. Under Peter Dutton, your power bills go nuclear.

In this budget, we build on Labor's commitments to strengthen Medicare with the addition of 29 more Medicare urgent-care clinics to the 58 that we opened over the last year, and we are finding more free mental health services and providing higher Medicare rebates for more common tests. Last Monday, health minister Mark Butler joined me to announce a new urgent-care clinic for Bridgewater in my electorate. I strongly made the case for the people of Bridgewater to have an option that would be an alternative to driving into Hobart for non-emergency medical situations and that would also help people in surrounding areas. With no appointments and fully bulk-billed, a Bridgewater MUCC will help people in Brighton, Derwent Valley, Bagdad, Mangalore and Glenorchy, to name a few. We're also expanding our cheaper medicines initiative to add more medicines onto the PBS, and we're freezing the PBS co-payment. We know that around 80 per cent of people who visit Medicare urgent-care clinics would otherwise have visited a hospital emergency room, and only around one in 30 can end up having to be referred for hospital treatment. Medicare urgent-care clinics are treating hundreds of thousands of people around the country, and they are taking pressure off our overstretched public hospitals. So far, Lyons residents have saved more than $800,000 thanks to Labor's cheaper medicines policy, and now pensioners and concession cardholders won't pay more than $7.70 for PBS medications for the next five years. Thanks to the Albanese government's tripling of bulk-billing incentives, residents in Lyons have made an additional 9,337 bulk billed visits to their GPs since November. Tasmania's health system will receive a $660 million federal injection next financial year, delivering $30 million more into the state's public hospitals than in last year's federal budget.

Our Labor government knows that our economic sovereignty requires more domestic capability. COVID taught us not to be overreliant on a global supply chains. Our Future Made in Australia plan will deliver economic security and better, higher-paying jobs for Australians. The opposition leader might be happy to see 'made overseas' on the things that Australians buy, but Labor wants to see more made in Australia. A future made in Australia is about creating new jobs and opportunities by maximising the economic and industrial benefits of the move to net zero and securing Australia's place in a fast-changing global landscape. Our Labor government's $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia package will encourage private sector investment in manufacturing, industry and tech—good for jobs and great for national economic security.

Tasmania's ambitions to become a key player in green hydrogen production received a boost, with $8 billion over 10 years to support the production of renewable hydrogen nationally and $1.3 billion allocated over the next four years for an additional round of the Hydrogen Headstart program.

Twenty-three million dollars of federal funding went to continued improvements to the Tarraleah hydropower scheme in the central highlands in my electorate. Built in the late 1930s, it is one of Hydro Tasmania's oldest hydropower schemes, regulating flows to the Derwent system of dams and hydropower stations as well as the water supply to Hobart. This funding supports the Tarraleah scheme to deliver more renewable power with more flexibility in the future.

Labor's Powering the Regions Fund is delivering $330 million to nine projects to keep Australian industry not just surviving but thriving as demand for low-emissions products grows around the world. This is something that the opposition leader, in his budget reply speech, said he will axe. He doesn't want government investment in this area. I note that the Tasmanian federal Liberal team have been silent on their leader's plan to gut investment in Tasmania and in renewables, which will put thousands of Tasmanian jobs at risk.

In my electorate, Cement Australia, based in Railton, will receive more than $52 million to upgrade its kiln and alternative fuel facilities to enable greater use of waste. That will help to reduce coal consumption while also reducing waste going to landfill. Only Labor can support regional Australian jobs and manufacturing, all the while working towards net zero.

It's a sorry state of affairs to see on the front of the Mercury this morning that Tasmania's education system, after 10 years of state Liberal government, is running dead last in the nation. Tasmania under the Liberals has the highest rate of absenteeism and the lowest year 12 completion of any state. The Albanese Labor government will not stand by—and is not standing by—watching the Tasmanian Liberals continuing to fail young Tasmanians. Last week, I announced funding for schools in my electorate for much-needed upgrades and improvements. That's federal money being pumped into state public schools that have been badly let down by the Tasmanian Liberal government.

Our budget delivers the skills we need for a future made in Australia, where no-one is held back and no-one is left behind. Labor's budget includes cost-of-living relief for students, support for people from the outer suburbs and regions to go to university, and structural reforms to our tertiary education system. Labor is offering states and territories the largest investment in Australia's public education ever delivered. Three billion dollars in student debt will be wiped to make the HECS-HELP system fairer. In my electorate, 8,809 people—students and graduates—will see a reduction in their HELP debt. The Albanese government will also invest $350 million over four years to get students ready for university at no cost to them.

According to one survey, 38 per cent of Tasmanian head teachers report a shortage of teachers in their schools. Labor is committed to funding wage increases for educators to fill the gaps. Students working hard to become teachers, nurses or social workers will receive $319.50 every week when they do mandatory practice. The same goes for those involved in vocational education placements. That includes more than 1,400 individuals in Tasmania. Tasmanian students will benefit from a $680 million budget allocation to education made through the Quality Schools funding scheme. Tasmanians received another $56.6 million under the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development, with a further $1.2 million to support fee-free TAFE.

When we came to office, we said we'd open 180,000 fee-free TAFE places. We're well past 300,000 already and we're on the way to 500,000. That's half a million Aussies changing their lives and learning the skills that our country needs. We are so focused on closing the gap that was left to us in the key areas of skill shortages in agriculture, child care, aged-care services and construction.

Ten years of state and federal Liberal government smashed affordable housing in Tasmania. Tasmania used to have some of the most affordable property around, and now it's amongst the most expensive. Hobart is the least affordable city to live in relative to income, a title it shares with Sydney. Five years ago the average rent in Tasmania was $311 a week. Now it's $445—and that's if you can find a place. That's the largest increase of any other state. Under the Liberals, the number of applicants for social housing in Lyons doubled and the waiting time blew out from 16 weeks to 80. That's a year and a half on a housing waiting list.

The Labor government knows that the best way to solve this crisis is to build more houses and increase supply. We also know that one of the best ways is to allow more young people access to shared equity schemes which a lot of the states run, including former Liberal government states. But, for some reason, those opposite and the Greens in the Senate are blocking Labor's plan which would allow more affordable housing for young Tasmanians. The Minister for Housing, Julie Collins, is a proud Tasmanian who is striving to fix the Liberal mess. Labor already committed $30 billion to housing in our first two years in office, and this budget commits another $6 billion. We've committed to more social housing, and that means less pressure on private markets. We've increased the Commonwealth Rent Assistance Program by 10 per cent, the second consecutive increase in two years, and we're supporting veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

This budget is good for Australia. It's certainly good for Tasmania. More jobs, higher wages, bigger tax cuts, a future made in Australia—that's the plan. That's what Labor is delivering. Labor has delivered more jobs, higher wages and bigger tax cuts, and we are delivering a future made in Australia. That stands in stark contrast to the negativity and sheer incompetence of those opposite.

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