Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to rise to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2024-2025 and related bills. On 1 July this year the Albanese Labour government will deliver a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer. That's a tax cut for 13.6 million people, including 81,000 people in my electorate of Chisholm. Every taxpayer in my electorate will receive a tax cut.

The average tax cut for taxpayers in my electorate will be $1,640. Of course, we know that Labor's tax cuts will deliver a bigger tax cut for Middle Australia to help with the cost-of-living compared with the previously legislated cuts. Under our plan, an additional 2.9 million Australians earning $45,000 or less, who were excluded under the coalition's plan, will now share in the benefits of these tax cuts. These will provide greater tax relief to low- and middle-income taxpayers from 1 July. These taxpayers are disproportionately women, so these tax cuts will see 90 per cent of female taxpayers retaining, on average, an additional $707 per year compared with the previously legislated tax cuts. In our budget, we've also increased the Medicare levy low-income thresholds, ensuring that more than one million low-income taxpayers will continue to be exempt from the Medicare levy or pay a reduced levy rate.

We are providing $3.5 billion in energy bill relief for all Australian households and one million eligible small businesses. From 1 July, more than 10 million households will receive a total rebate of $300, and eligible small businesses will receive $325 on their electricity bills throughout the year. I know that this is really good news for small businesses and households alike. We already know that our current energy bill relief plan has moderated electricity price increases. This is really important. Prices increased by just two per cent through the year to the March quarter. We know that, had that relief not been provided, prices would have increased by 14.9 per cent, almost 15 per cent.

This budget recognises that households and small businesses remain under pressure. We are going to extend and expand relief already provided. This is truly a Labor budget, and a budget designed to help people who are under pressure right now while setting Australians up for the future. This is a budget for the here and now but also a budget for a better future for all Australians.

We know that many are doing it tough right now, and our No. 1 priority is to ease cost-of-living pressures. We're also able, at the same time, to invest in a future made in Australia. This is a budget for every Australian and for every person in my electorate of Chisholm. Every taxpayer will receive a tax cut and every household will receive energy bill relief.

An issue that I know is really important to my electorate is the issue of student debt. We're wiping around $3 billion of student debt, and in my electorate that will impact 24,430 people. Overall, it will impact three million Australians. I've had parents and students alike writing to me about the importance of this change. In fact, I made my own submission to the Universities Accord process that our government initiated. This was something that I heard loudly and clearly from my electorate. It was a really important step that we could take as a government, and I'm really pleased that wages will never move slower than student debt and that debt will never outpace the amount of money someone can expect to earn in their job. We're also introducing a Commonwealth prac payment for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students undertaking mandatory placements. We're also delivering fee-free uni ready courses to provide more students with the enabling pathways to higher education. This is expected to increase the number of students undertaking these courses by 40 per cent by 2030 and double the number of students by 2040. This helps us with our ambition to see more Australians being able to realise their ambition of higher education. This is going to give more Australians the skills they need to get into the courses they want to study.

For those in insecure housing, we're kickstarting the construction of more homes in every part of the country. For those who need access to medicines, we're cutting the prices of more common medications through our cheaper medicines policy. If you're a working parent in receipt of paid parental leave, we're providing a better deal by paying you superannuation. This is a really extraordinary step. I know there have been so many advocates for this in the community, and I want to thank them for their advocacy over the years. There is, of course, always more to do for a government, and we will keep working every day to deliver for all Australians.

Importantly, the added cost-of-living relief we've delivered in this budget builds on our work to take pressure off people, critically, without adding to the pressure on inflation. This is a budget to train more tradies, to build more homes, to boost bulk-billing and to give more Australians an opportunity to access university or TAFE. Our budget is investing in a future made in Australia—the transformative opportunities of clean energy and innovative technology. We're strengthening our defence industry and capability and investing in strategic industries.

I know how important sovereign capability and good, well-paid, secure jobs are for our communities, including mine in Chisholm. I speak to my constituents about this issue all the time, and I'm really privileged to represent a part of the country where we see a thriving hub of activity in these transformative industries. I have met with people working in innovation, in clean energy, in advanced manufacturing, in pharmaceutical and medical technologies, and I'm really optimistic about our future and about the opportunities that are possible for people working and living in my electorate of Chisholm.

We know that, because of our responsible economic management, our government has been able to forecast a second consecutive budget surplus. This is quite significant. In addition to being able to forecast that surplus, we're building on cost-of-living measures that have already been taken, such as cheaper child care, cheaper medicines and fee-free TAFE. Really, this budget is about two things: acting on cost-of-living pressures, and building our economy for the future—making our future here in Australia—a better future where nobody is left behind. Some of this can be seen in our ambitious Homes for Australia Plan, which will help more Australians rent, build and buy.

Whilst we acknowledge that no single budget can fix all the problems that are being caused by global uncertainty and a tricky economic climate—not to mention an unfortunate 10 years of neglect and waste from those opposite—we do know that the measures we've announced in this budget will help make a real difference to people in Chisholm and right across the nation. This is a Labor budget through and through because it is a budget for every Australian, not just some, and it's a true Labor budget because, while it's designed to help people under pressure here and now, it also invests in the jobs, skills, energy and infrastructure to power our growth in the future. This is an ambitious and optimistic budget because we are ambitious and optimistic for Australia.

We know that this budget is framed in the context of challenging and fragile global conditions. The global economy is resilient in parts but subdued overall. We see tensions around the world and we know that global supply chains are still fragmenting. Despite all of this, we as a government want Australians to know that we are amongst the best placed economies to manage these uncertainties and maximise our opportunities. As the Treasurer pointed out in his budget address, we have an enviable combination of moderating inflation, record new jobs, new record participation, real wages growth, the lowest ever gender pay gap and expanding business investment.

While we know that annual inflation has more than halved from its peak in 2022, we know that people are still feeling pressures. That's why we've designed our cost-of-living policies to ease those pressures and take another three-quarters of a percentage point off inflation this year and half a percentage point off next year. Treasury is now forecasting that inflation could return to target earlier, with the possibility of this occurring by the end of the year. This is all happening while around 780,000 jobs have been created under this government, which is a record for any first term. These jobs mean security to people. They mean an opportunity to pursue ambitions for households. These are significant things. This is also a stronger jobs growth than in any major advanced economy.

In addition to this, real wages are growing again for the first time in almost three years. This is a really important development for our nation.

This budget represents responsible relief that eases pressure on people and directly reduces inflation. We're delivering a tax cut for every taxpayer, we're providing electricity bill relief for people and small businesses, and we're making student loans fairer. I know that freezing the cost of medicines for pensioners and concession card holders for five years will provide meaningful relief. What this means is that no pensioner or concession card holder will pay more than $7.70 for the medicine that they need.

This budget shows that we are realistic about the pressures that people face right now, but we are also optimistic and ambitious about the future. We are realistic—that's why we are acting to support Australians now—but we can see the optimism in the significant investments in the future for people in our country. To realise the opportunities of a future made in Australia, we are changing the way we attract and deploy investment in our economy. We know that the global energy transformation presents a generational opportunity for Australia. The world is changing and the pace of that change is accelerating. Our approach to growth and investment needs to change as well. We know that, if we hold back, the chance for a new generation of jobs and prosperity will pass us by, and that will make us more vulnerable and poorer. And that's not what we want to see for Australia.

I'm really disappointed to hear, from those opposite, such negativity about some of these really positive steps. We don't have an energy policy from those opposite. I am really disappointed, too, at the lack of ambition and optimism that those opposite seem to have for Australian ingenuity and for our communities. We are trying to deliver to people who are under pressure right now, while making sure that our economy and our vision for this country are strong and ambitious for the future.

I am really proud to be part of a government that is managing to do all of these things at once. We're not just thinking about the here and now; we're thinking about the future. We're investing in education. We're investing in skills. We're investing in industry. We're investing in housing.

I think all of us in this place want to leave knowing that the country looks better at the end of our time than it did at the start. I think that, through a budget like this, and through the efforts that our government is continuing to make to invest in relieving cost-of-living pressures now but building a better future for Australians where no-one is left behind, a lot of us will be able to look back and say that that was achieved. I'm really proud to be part of a government that's continuing to prioritise the welfare and future of Australians everywhere, and I commend these bills to the House.

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