Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Who will receive the $300 energy rebate announced in the budget? Is it (a) someone who earns over $500,000 a year, (b) someone who owns three properties, (c) the Prime Minister of Australia, or (d) all of the above?

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You don't want to vote for it? You're not going to support it?

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members on my left will cease interjecting. The Minister for Skills and Training will cease interjecting. When the House comes to order, the—

Opposition members interjecting—

The member for Hughes was heard in silence. The Prime Minister is going to be given the same courtesy.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hughes for her question. Tonight there'll be an opportunity to hear from the Leader of the Opposition over whether he supports the $300 going to every household. From the question from the member for Hughes, it sounds like they don't. That wouldn't be surprising, because they opposed it when it was targeted. And now they're opposing it when it goes to every household. This is at a time where earlier on this year they expressed outrage that people who were going to get nine—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's completely relevant to the question.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for the Environment and Water will cease interjecting. The member for Hughes will state her point of order.

Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Point of order on relevance: the question was quite targeted. It went to who will receive the $300 rebate. It went to the government's policies, not ours.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat. I know there were a number of subsets to the question, but the Prime Minister said it very early in the answer. He did confirm every household.

Honourable members interjecting—

Order! The Prime Minister is going to be heard in silence for the remainder.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was targeted at every household, because they're the people who are going to benefit from our $300 for every household. It was targeted at every small business. As well, of course, earlier this year we had outrage expressed that we needed to go to an election from those suggesting that everyone in this chamber should get $9,000 tax cuts rather than $4½ thousand tax cuts at the same time that workers earning under $45,000 should get exactly zero. They can't work out where they are when it comes to class warfare, whether they're attacking the top—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will pause. The deputy leader knows the standing orders backwards. She knows that there won't be a point of order on relevance, because that's already been taken, but she is entitled—

Order, Minister for Climate Change! It's got to be a real point of order, not a statement or a throwaway line. The deputy leader on a point of order.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I simply seek your ruling based on your earlier response to the point on relevance. This was a tight question about eligibility criteria.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat. The time to ask me that question was when I made the ruling. I made the ruling. If you were unhappy with it, you could have taken action then. To go back in time is not possible under the standing orders. The Prime Minister has the call.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The fact is that they are all over the shop over there. They can't decide whether they want more or they want less, whether they want more spending or no spending, or whether they want to support aspiration or attack aspiration. What we know is that the one thing that is consistent about them is that they have no plan for the future. They have nothing positive to say, just nuclear negativity over and over again from this Leader of the Opposition and his merry band, who hand out questions but aren't capable of standing up and having the courage of asking it themselves.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood Education. In this year's budget, how is the Albanese Labor government easing cost-of-living pressures for early childhood education and care workers?

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Adelaide for his most excellent question and for his tireless advocacy for the early childhood educators and, indeed, the children in his electorate of Adelaide. Like all members of this Albanese Labor government, the member for Adelaide understands the importance of early childhood education and care for children, for families and for the economy. Unlike those opposite, we on this side value the skilled and important work that early childhood educators and early childhood teachers do. You won't hear anyone on this side of the House refer to early childhood education and care as childminding and outsourcing parenting. That's not what we do.

This government has made a historic commitment to contribute funding towards lifting the wages of early childhood education and care workers, something that I'm incredibly proud of. Indeed, I watched the faces of the early childhood educators in the gallery on budget night when the Treasurer announced a multibillion-dollar provision in the budget for better wages in the care economy, including in the early learning sector, and watching the tears flow from those early childhood educators was really something that I know touched the hearts of everybody on this side of the House.

Reviews by the ACCC and the Productivity Commission have highlighted to us that we simply cannot achieve the necessary reform in the early childhood education and care sector without a strong and sustainable workforce. You don't just need reports to tell you this. Anyone who has visited an early childhood education and care centre, whether it's the member for Adelaide or any of the members behind me with whom I've had the pleasure of visiting early childhood education and care centres and speaking to early childhood educators and carers, knows the pressure that they're under. As one early childhood educator told me, 'We love what we do, but love doesn't pay the bills.'

The budget the night before delivered not only a historic second surplus but also cost-of-living relief measures for all Australians. Early childhood educators will get a boost in their wages, and they'll also get a tax cut just like every Australian taxpayer right across the country. We will continue our record of responsible fiscal management. We will continue to provide cost-of-living relief without adding to inflation, and we will lay the foundations for a future where all Australian children thrive, no matter who they are and no matter what their background. (Time expired)

Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. S&P Global has said that the additional cost-of-living measures in the budget are inflationary. The Reserve Bank of Australia governor has warned that it is very uncertain inflation will return to target in the next two years and it's too early to declare victory over inflation. Former RBA member Warwick McKibbin says that claiming taxpayer funded electricity and rental bill relief are an antidote to high inflation is a political trick that will not address economic pressures. Why are Australians paying the price for the Prime Minister's wrong priorities and bad decisions?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll ask the Treasurer to add to this question, because here he is. He handed down a budget on Tuesday night. He was waiting Tuesday and Wednesday. Now, we're right through Thursday at a quarter past three. We might keep question time going until the shadow Treasurer has the courage to ask him a question.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We asked you because you're hopeless.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Come to the microphone. Get a question. Your microphone is off.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Treasurer will return to the question.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It sounds like they don't support energy bill rebates for every Australian household. If that's the case—from that question, the question before and questions earlier on—it sounds like they don't support easing the cost of living for people doing it tough. Thankfully, the Leader of the Opposition has the opportunity in a few hours time to get to the dispatch box and tell the Australian people why he thinks Australians don't deserve some help with the cost of living, because we do. We believe that Australians who are doing it tough need help with the cost of living, and that's why there's a tax cut for every taxpayer. That's why there's energy bill relief for every household. That's why there's cheaper medicines. That's why there's rent assistance.

Unlike those opposite, we are here to represent the interests of Middle Australia, and we know that Middle Australia is doing it tough. We know that when we came to office inflation had a six in front of it, and now it has a three in front of it. To those opposite who are talking about inflation with a three in front of it as still too high, I'd love to hear how they describe inflation with a six in front of it, which is what they left behind when they stacked up in the budget bigger deficits and more debt and all of these stupendous wastes and rorts, which meant that this country had almost nothing to show from a trillion dollars in Liberal debt. If they describe the situation now, which is a couple of hundred billion dollars better and where we've turned Liberal deficits into Labor surpluses, I'd love to hear how they describe the situation that they left—the mess that they left behind that we have spent a big chunk of our two years in office cleaning up on behalf of the good people, the working people of Middle Australia, the people on pensions and, indeed, all Australians.

The honourable member asked me about the Reserve Bank and the view that the job, when it comes to fighting inflation, isn't over yet. We agree with that. It's not mission accomplished on inflation, which is why the budget is focused on easing the cost of living and fighting inflation to clean up the mess they left behind. (Time expired)

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Skills and Training. How does the Albanese Labor government's budget ensure we have the skilled workers we need to build more homes, create a future made in Australia and successfully move to a net zero economy? And why is supporting the VET sector so important after a wasted decade?

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lalor for her question. She understands, as well as anybody in this place, how important education and training are for people, and I think it's clear that, if we don't invest in education and training, we're not going to deliver what we need to. In less than two years, the Albanese Labor government has enacted big reforms and deepened its investment in education and training. We've created Jobs and Skills Australia, which is advising government and industry to supply skills to transition our energy sector, to build more homes and infrastructure, to rebuild manufacturing, to provide care for older Australians and to provide education to our preschool kids.

The fact is we're going to continue to do more. Last year alone, 355,000 Australians enrolled in fee-free TAFE, and a further 320,000 fee-free TAFE places are available from this year on, and that is absolutely vital. We've struck a national skills agreement with state and territories, the first national skills agreement in a decade, which is a $30 billion investment in the VET sector over five years. Centres of excellence will be created to bring TAFEs and universities together—more higher apprenticeships and improving foundation skills and more. In the university sector, Minister Clare, in response to the accord review, is implementing landmark reforms to ensure we have a more skilled and knowledgeable workforce.

The fact is the budget handed down by the Treasurer on Tuesday is going to provide much relief for people in this country, but we'll also be investing in skills needed by our workers, businesses and economy. Of course, starting on 1 July, every Australian taxpayer will get a tax cut. Every household in this country will get $300 off their electricity bill. As for skills, we reversed the savage cuts made by those opposite when they removed the apprenticeship support exactly at the time you don't do that. We've actually increased support for apprentices as a result of this budget. We've added a further 20,000 fee-free TAFE places in the housing and construction sector to supply more housing, and we will invest a further $90 million—and I'll be working with the Minister for Climate Change and Energy on this—in the clean energy workforce to establish a national hydrogen skills training centre.

All of this is directed to ensure we have a future made in Australia. By contrast, those opposite cut apprenticeship support, spoke out against tax cuts and called fee-free TAFE 'wasteful spending'. Tonight, the opposition leader has a test: he will either outline a plan for Australia's future or make it perfectly clear he will play no part in it.