Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. What work is the Labor government doing to address the challenges of today while working to continue to build for the future? Are there any alternative approaches that would leave Australians worse off?

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

I thank the member for Bendigo for both elements of her question. We do begin 2025 with new reasons for optimism about the road ahead. Inflation is going down, wages are going up and unemployment is low. The world has thrown a lot of challenges at us. We know that it has been difficult with financial pressure on households and we know that many households are still under financial pressure, which is why there is more to do. What we've done is manage the economy responsibly while providing cost-of-living relief. Tax cuts, cheaper medicines, cheaper child care, energy bill relief, back-to-back budget surpluses—these are the strong foundations that we've laid.

As we tackle those immediate challenges and as we navigate these turbulent seas, we've always had our eye on the horizon as well. We have deliberately designed a range of measures so that they address cost-of-living pressures whilst creating the conditions for building Australia's future. Investing in free TAFE lowers costs for people—600,000 of them—whilst giving them the skills that they need and the employers the skilled workforce that they need going forward. Fully funding all of our schools that we aimed to, with six out of eight states signed up, is making a difference as well. The childcare policy, including the three guarantee for child care, is about building Australia's future. We're wiping 20 per cent of student debt and making sure that we strengthen Medicare through our 87 urgent care clinics, after we promised 50 at the last election. Meanwhile, I'm asked about alternatives. Well, the Leader of the Opposition is out there talking about 'economic surgery'. On Insiders, just on Sunday, he confirmed that massive cuts are coming. But he won't tell Australians what they are until after the election. He wants you to vote for them, and then there will be cuts coming after the election. He wants to put the whole country under the knife, but he won't tell you what he's cutting until after the operation. Well, we know already that, on top of their opposition to all of our cost-of-living measures, the only policy that they have put forward—the only policy they've come up with—is for every taxpayer to fund a free lunch that those opposite have now doubled down on today. While we're thinking outside the box, they're thinking inside the lunch box! That is their policy as they go forward.

We will continue to provide cost-of-living relief while continuing to strengthen the economy. Those opposite— (Time expired)