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

My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the Albanese Labor government helping Australians with the cost of living, and what is standing in the way?

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

I thank the member for Hasluck for her question. Indeed, taking action on the cost of living is my government's No. 1 priority. In less than a week now, next Monday, the government will deliver more relief for Australians—a tax cut for every taxpayer, all 13.6 million of them, and of course at the same time a pay rise for 2.6 million workers on award wages—because we want Australians to earn more and to keep more of what they earn. There will be $300 in power bill relief for every household and $325 for every small business. We are continuing the freeze on the cost of PBS medicines and of course two weeks of additional government funded paid parental leave.

This isn't the beginning of our cost-of-living help, and it's certainly not the end. But what we have managed to do is provide that cost-of-living relief while halving inflation. So, instead of having a '6' in front of it, it has a '3' in front of it. Yesterday, we announced new rules to make sure that families are getting better prices at the supermarket. We're making sure that families and farmers get a fair go. I noticed that the Leader of the National Party was still out there calling for the compulsory breakup of supermarkets. I'm not sure who he thinks would buy the Coles supermarket at Warwick, but I suspect that it might be Woolworths. I suspect that it might lead to more concentration, not less. But, to be fair to the National Party, their newfound overt embracing of socialism is there for all to see.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! Members on my left.

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

But while we're fighting to bring costs down they have a tax policy designed to roll back tax cuts, they have an IR policy to deliver lower wages, they have a fiscal strategy designed to rack up debt, they have a housing policy designed to wreck super, they have a health policy designed to destroy Medicare and they have a nuclear reactor plan designed to jack up power prices—a nuclear plan that costs too much and takes too long and a plan to stop the rollout of cheaper renewables and put an end to the certainty that business, industry and families need.