Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Governing is about priorities, and the priority of the Albanese government from the moment that we took office has been tackling cost of living. We've done this from day one because of global inflation but also because of the low-wage, high-inflation mess we inherited from the Liberals. So we've made medicines cheaper; we've made child care more affordable; we've provided energy bill relief to every Australian; we've got wages going again, beginning with the lowest paid, such that on this day there is now real wage growth in Australia; and we've provided a tax cut to every income earner. We understood that we needed to get inflation down, so we delivered two budget surpluses, something those opposite never did. And having inherited a number of 6.1, inflation is now at 2.4 per cent.

We get that the last few years have been difficult and that many Australians are still doing it tough. While there is light at the end of the tunnel, there's a lot more work that needs to be done, and we are committed to that, but the Liberals represent a material risk to finishing this job because they have a very different set of priorities. There is no culture war that they will not fight. They literally seek to politicise everything. They've made it totally clear that their priority is to cut government services to the tune of $350 billion, and they will need to find another $600 billion to pay for their nuclear plan. You can't do that unless you start hacking into Medicare, just as the Leader of the Opposition did when he was the Minister for Health. If the Liberals are allowed to take Australia back to flatlining wages, to a decimated Medicare scheme right there, the household budgets of middle Australians will be absolutely smashed. But don't worry: they do have one cost-of-living measure. They want all Australians to pay for businesses to provide free lunches—a policy that could cost up to $10 billion. That is the same amount of money as the Medicare payments to the entirety of our GP workforce. How on earth can that be the right priority?

As Australia faces a very big decision in the coming months, we know that the Liberals will be focused on themselves and on their own political fortunes. On this side of the House, we make a pledge. It is the focus—it is the priority—of Anthony Albanese and his government to provide for the security and the prosperity of every Australian.

See this speech in context