Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This MPI is evidence that the Liberal and National parties have simply given up. Now they don't even know what they want to discuss in parliament. I wait with bated breath to see if maybe next week they'll put three topics into their MPI. The member for Dickson shows a certain level of indecision in his effort to chuck a few things around and see if something might just stick. The trouble is that there's no good news for the coalition. Their strategy of just opposing everything may have worked for Tony Abbott, but it's not going to work for the member for Dickson.

On the other hand, these two MPI topics provide me with a platform to outline in my brief five minutes a few of the excellent initiatives of the Albanese Labor government that we have already done, in just a two short years, to make Australians safer and to address the cost-of-living challenges facing Australians, especially those Australians who need help the most.

Firstly, the Australian government hit the ground running on national security. In August 2022, the Hon. Stephen Smith and Sir Angus Houston were asked to conduct the Defence strategic review, the most important work of that kind since the Dibb report in 1986. That review underpins the ongoing agenda for an ambitious but necessary reform to defence posture and structure. This makes Australia safer. The House recently passed the Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence) Bill 2024. That committee will ensure proper oversight of defence strategy and provision in the years ahead. I acknowledge the work of the late senator Jim Molan. The defence committee, if the Liberals will actually pass the bill in the Senate, will help keep Australia safer.

In cybersecurity, the Albanese Labor government has elevated the portfolio to cabinet. When the opposition were in power they weren't even sure whether it was important enough to have a portfolio for it. Cybersecurity threats are many and varied, and the government's efforts have already made Australians safer. But we need to ask, since the coalition were in office for nine years and pretend to care about national security and making Australians safer: Where was the coalition's defence strategic review? Where was the coalition's legislation for the joint committee on defence? Where were the coalition ministers for cybersecurity and a national office a cybersecurity? Nada—they didn't exist. Instead, chasing headlines, we saw the Leader of the Opposition try to claim that Border Force were underfunded. Then Australian Border Force commissioner, Michael Outram, confirmed that under Labor funding for the agency is the highest it has been since its establishment in 2015. It must be difficult for the Leader of the Opposition as, every time the member for Dickson stands up to dog whistle, the facts simply don't support him.

It is simply not possible to cover all the great initiatives and support on cost of living by the Albanese government, so I'll cover just a few. I think it is worth pointing out at the same time just how little would have been done in this area if the coalition were in government at this crucial time. We have provided tax cuts for every Australian. A Border Force police officer recruit trainee just starting out on $54,439 will receive a tax cut of $1,040, and that's ongoing. That trainee, who's going to be helping to keep our country safe, hopefully over a long and rewarding career, certainly deserves to have the benefit of that tax cut. But how much of a tax cut would the Border Force officer recruit trainee have received if the coalition were in office? Nothing—nil. We know this because, even though the opposition knew that they couldn't, in the end, oppose the tax cuts, they truly, in their hearts, wanted to oppose them. They would never in a million years have thought of it on their own—tax cuts for all Australians, especially for those who need it most, to address their cost-of-living challenges. It's a sensible policy because the Albanese government wants Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn. It's a sensible policy because when circumstances change government policy should change too. It's a sensible policy that the member for Dickson would never have supported if he thought he had any choice at all.

Our Border Force officer recruit trainee will also benefit from the government's action in addressing health needs and health costs. There's more support for bulk-billing, free medical urgent care clinics, capping the cost of scripts and 60-day dispensing, all designed to make Australians healthier while, at the same time, saving them money. Would a coalition government have taken any of these measures? No. Indeed, the Abbott government shut Medicare locals.The Morrison government ignored the advice to allow 60-day scripts. The coalition, quite demonstrably, does not care about the health of Australians and won't assist in meeting healthcare costs.

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