Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to this matter of public importance. I want to just say to the member for Menzies: as a child growing up in a family where I was one of 11 kids, I was seeing the struggles of both of my parents, who both worked but were making sure, as parents with a responsibility, that their children, all 11 of them, were kept safe and fed and went to school every day. That was really important for my parents because they had limited education. It was a time, when they grew up in the Northern Territory, when they were denied even an education and to go to school. For them, it was about making sure that their 11 children got an education. For us, that was the key to getting ourselves out of—I suppose for many of us it's about picking yourselves up from the bootstraps.

I know there are many families in my electorate of Lingiari that are doing it tough, and none of us on this side have ever denied that the cost of living is impacting on our constituencies right across Australia. I certainly see it more acutely in regional and remote Northern Territory communities, where people really do it tough. But I'm proud to stand here as part of a government which is offering tax cuts—which had the discussion and the debate about changing stage 3 tax cuts and making sure that all Australians could have access to a tax cut. There are also the energy rebates and wiping of student debt.

These are important ways that Labor's budget is delivering cost-of-living relief for every Australian, particularly in my electorate of Lingiari. As I said, the cost of living remains a major issue of concern for everyone—particularly everyone in Lingiari. On 1 July this year, the Albanese Labor government delivered a tax cut for every taxpayer. In my electorate of Lingiari, about 43,000 taxpayers will get a tax cut under Labor's tax cuts. Our economic plan is to bring inflation under control, boost wages and put in place policies for fairer prices for Australian consumers. That's particularly so for people like my constituents living in regional and remote Lingiari; they are no different but they certainly get the impact. Labor wants people to earn more and keep more of what they earn, and that could not be said more than in terms of my constituents. After I leave this place today, I will get around Lingiari and let people know about our tax cuts, and also about the $300 electricity rebate. That's certainly an important issue for people in Lingiari.

I was listening to the member for Bean, who talked about Medicare. One of the things we're certainly proud of in the Northern Territory is that, out of the 29 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, there have been 10,700 visits to Mparntwe, the Alice Springs Urgent Care Clinic. That isn't just for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients; everybody across Alice Springs is getting access to that clinic. The Palmerston Urgent Care Clinic is also providing needed Medicare services through that clinic.

I know that Labor's cost-of-living measures are making a real difference to people in my electorate of Lingiari, and these critical measures are part of Labor's long-term economic plan to help Australians—and people in Lingiari—to bring down inflation right now. And we're planning a future made in Australia.

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