Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I do not have to take your interjection. Our economy's fundamentals have remained strong, with outstanding employment growth, a record investment pipeline and a budget position the envy of our peers.

Where is the hope and reward for Australian families? It is right here in Australia's first national paid parental leave scheme, with 18 weeks pay at the minimum wage. More than 130,000 working parents have already benefited, and I think that is fantastic.

What I also think is fantastic—and there is a great deal of hope, reward and opportunity in this one—are the increased payments of up to $4,200 a year from 1 January this year to help with the costs of raising teenage children. I know, like everyone in this chamber would know, that raising teenagers costs a lot of money. Indeed, for too long we have punished families at the tail end of those child-rearing years just as children get more expensive. So there is a great deal of hope, opportunity and reward in that.

And what about the future opportunity that will come with our National Broadband Network? It is affordable high-speed broadband to all Australians and Australian businesses no matter where they live. It will mean better education, better health care and better access for Australian businesses to the biggest marketplace in Australian human history. That is the kind of infrastructure opportunity and reward that our nation should be aspiring to.

And what about hope? What about the hope that comes with getting the health care that you need? A healthcare agreement between the states and the Commonwealth delivers more doctors, more nurses and more beds with less waste and waiting time.

What about the importance of the agreement on carbon price when it comes to hope for the future? There is a plan to cut pollution, cut taxes, increase the pension and create clean energy jobs. Most importantly from a hope point of view, I think, is hope that we can move from being part of the problem in climate change to being part of the solution. That is my great hope.

What about the minerals resource rent tax? What about the hope and opportunity that comes from giving Australians a fair share of the mining boom, a boost to retirement savings, tax breaks for small business and a company tax cut? There is a great deal of reward, opportunity and hope in that. It frees up money to invest in states like WA so that we can keep our economy moving and invest in the generation of future wealth for our nation.

What about the hope and opportunity that comes with doubled investment in school education, upgraded facilities at every school and the provision of more information to parents than ever before? I think that is fantastic. We have also created 130,000 new training places. What do we speak to when we speak of hope, opportunity and reward for Australians? It gives them the opportunity to make the most of the opportunities that are in our growing economy today in states like Western Australia that have a huge demand for skilled people. We must invest in these skilled training places to make the most of the opportunities that are before us as a nation. That is why we created these 130,000 new training places. It was exactly so we could deliver hope, opportunity and reward to Australians.

What about hope, opportunity and reward for seniors? What about the historic increase to the Australian pension? What about the fact that we are now looking at improving aged care to give older people more choice and more control? What about the record investment of more than $36 billion in projects around the country? What about the flood levy—the fact that we needed to deliver tough savings to provide the $5.8 billion to flood affected regions in Queensland, Victoria and my home state of Western Australia? What about the hope that comes for those families that are really looking forward to Australia's first national disability insurance scheme?

More than 280 bills have passed through the House of Representatives and more than 230 through— (Time expired)