Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a great honour to represent my community of Werriwa in this place. Recently I've reached out to the electorate of Werriwa to ask for their top concerns at the moment. Overwhelmingly, their responses have been the cost of living, affordable health care and job opportunities. We know the cost of living has been a pressing issue for Australians all across the country, with more and more people having to choose between feeding themselves and their families and filling a prescription for life-saving medications. This is not what we want for Australia. One of Australia's greatest achievements is our healthcare system, and as a government we are committed to strengthening it, which is why the Medicare task force was established and Minister Butler is seeking further reports about Medicare.

I've met with constituents, especially those with chronic conditions, who make choices about which medications they can afford. This unfortunately has only become more and more common. We are meant to take pride in the fact that our healthcare system is fair and equitable. Last week I met with Natalie, the owner and pharmacist at Chemistworks at Edmondson Park. We discussed the changes that the government has made to reduce the cost of medicine. Natalie was very supportive of the changes. She detailed for me the conversations that she and her staff have every day about what medications can be taken less frequently. Clearly it is distressing for a professional like Natalie to answer these questions. She knows that the treating doctors believe that it is in the patient's best interests to take medications as directed, but she also sees the struggle it can be for families or pensioners when they can't afford their medication. The changes will see that people in my electorate who need to fill two scripts a month save up to $300 a year. This is part of our government's plan to address the cost-of-living crisis and will also strengthen our healthcare system so that it remains fair and egalitarian.

The people of Werriwa told me that Medicare is their top concern. Our government has committed to delivering 50 Medicare urgent care clinics, which will bulk-bill urgent care to take the pressure off our emergency departments. Of course, we have multiple strategies to change and improve the current challenges for our economy.

In the recent census it was confirmed that Werriwa has a higher percentage of families with children than the New South Wales and Australian averages, so it's mums and dads in Werriwa who will significantly benefit from the changes to childcare fees next year. Our policy will cover 96 per cent of families, or about 7,400 families in Werriwa. Families will now have a choice to work more hours and days, addressing the skills shortage to some extent and making working that extra day worthwhile. Under this policy, 7,400 families should benefit. Families earning a combined income of $120,000 with one child can save up to $1,780. These families can choose to work additional days without worrying about the extra cost of child care.

With childcare costs increasing by 41 per cent over the last eight years, it has never been more important for the government to help families ensure their children get affordable and adequate care. Child care helps children in so many ways, not only allowing parents to work but readying them for a life of learning and curiosity. Werriwa is a fast-growing electorate with more young people and more young families, and these savings will directly benefit those in my community as well as thousands of families all around the country. I am very proud that our government has done that.

For far too long people in our part of the country have been neglected and overlooked. The people of Werriwa will finally benefit from the actions of a government that cares about them. Up to 65 per cent of Werriwa's workers leave the electorate every day to work. They battle every day with the lack of planning of both state and federal governments, which means that commutes can often be long, taking them away from their families and reducing their opportunities for leisure or exercise. The lack of investment by state governments in roads and rail, with projects taking too long to start, is taking its toll in my part of south-west Sydney.

That's why projects like the Western Sydney airport are so important to our communities. The stimulation from this generational infrastructure project will provide almost 28,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2031 alone, and the economic activity it will generate will be substantial for our communities.

Our region will be linked to the airport by the M12 Motorway, another piece of infrastructure. It will produce 2,000 jobs during construction and shorten commute times to the airport for workers. And it has substantial federal government funding.

Our region, especially Werriwa, contains some of the most tolled suburbs in Sydney, so the last thing they need is another toll road. And the M12 has no tolls. Whether they're on their way to work or on an outing with their families, they need to spend less time on the road and not pay tolls for the luxury of using government-funded infrastructure.

The 2021 census, which was taken at the height of lockdown, showed that people in Werriwa were still more likely to drive to work compared to the rest of New South Wales and were less likely to work from home. Of course, this is directly related to the important work those in my community do. They are the nurses, the firefighters, the police and the aged-care workers. They deliver food to supermarkets and shops. They are our teachers. They were essential workers during the pandemic. That's why good infrastructure is incredibly important to Werriwa and why Labor is committed to it.

The massive growth occurring in suburbs such as Austral and Middleton Grange and the congestion on roads, especially at the Cowpasture Road and Hoxton Park Road intersection, are impacting these residents. That is also why the Albanese government will deliver on the election commitment that I made during the election campaign, with the minister for infrastructure, to create a $6 million link between Aviation Road and Middleton Drive at Middleton Grange. These suburbs should not be isolated from the rest of the local area, and workers should not have to face long queues to get out of their suburb. I am really glad to be part of a government that is supporting this development and addressing the concerns of my community.

We know that infrastructure is vital to job opportunities for my community, but educational opportunities are equally important. Whether it be K-12, or university or vocational education, everyone deserves a good education and the ability to acquire skills for well-paying jobs.

Unfortunately, over the past decade, our education system has been undermined at every turn, with record low funding to our higher education system. Under the previous Labor government, university funding was at 30.3 per cent of total education funding. By 2019-20, this share had sunk to 24.2 per cent, and there were massive lay-offs in the university sector. As a result of this neglect, the proportion of applicants who get an offer has gone down. This, coupled with decades of consistent underspending in our TAFE system, means that people don't have the opportunities they did 10 years ago. And we are feeling the effects of the gutting of TAFE right now, with the chronic skills shortage in every sector of our economy. This is the legacy of a previous government, but it won't be the legacy of ours.

People in my community are less likely to hold a bachelor's degree, an advanced diploma or a certificate IV or III, compared to the rest of New South Wales, and those in Werriwa are also less likely to be studying at TAFE or university. So, with nine in 10 jobs in the future requiring some sort of VET qualification or university degree, the people of Werriwa would be significantly impacted if nothing were done to address these changes in funding.

But our government is going to do something about these problems. We are delivering an additional 20,000 university places for those in under-represented areas, with regional, remote and outer-suburban areas being prioritised. But that's only one aspect of our plan, because we'll also deliver 465,000 fee-free TAFE places and invest $100 million to support 10,000 apprenticeships in new energy jobs. This will help close the skills gap we are experiencing in the near-term, but it will also build up the skills of Australians for good, well-paid jobs.

I know our communities are worried about the lack of education and job opportunities, and I will continue to voice their concerns. I want those in my community to know that I will continue to fight for them. The government that I am now part of has the ability to help alleviate these stressors. And we will govern for everybody.