Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak this evening in response to the matter of public importance submitted this morning by our parliamentary colleague from Queensland, Senator Malcolm Roberts. Senator Roberts asked the Senate to consider the federal government's need to tackle the cost of living challenges in its budget. It gives me enormous joy, enormous pride even, to be able to inform Senator Roberts that the Turnbull government have indeed tackled the cost of living challenges in the 2017 budget. In his speech last night in the other place, the Treasurer articulated an economic vision for our country based on fairness, on security and on opportunity. And a key tenet of this budget, a fundamental objective of this budget, is to address the cost of living pressures faced by ordinary Australians. All budgets are about choices, competing interests and competing priorities, but this budget is about making the right choices, the right choices to secure better days ahead for all Australians.

The government has chosen to tackle the cost of living pressures for Australians and their families, taking action to ease the strain in areas such as housing affordability, power prices and child care. The Australian economy has grown consistently every year for the past 26 years, but not all sectors have grown evenly. The Turnbull government recognises that not all Australians have enjoyed the benefits of our nation's growth.

Housing affordability is an issue that has dominated so much of the national conversation and, while there is no silver bullet that any federal government can provide for this problem, the Turnbull government has not shirked its responsibilities. This budget seeks to ease the burden on the hip pockets of ordinary Australians and ordinary households by making housing more affordable for prospective buyers and renters, and to support people who are homeless. Tax concessional savings through the superannuation system provide the right incentives to help first-home buyers struggling to save for their first home. We are also reducing the barriers to downsizers by allowing those over 65 to contribute up to $300,000 into their superannuation on the sale of their family home.

But the policies I am most proud of are those which will genuinely improve the outcomes for those most in need. The Turnbull coalition will look after those who are homeless and will provide $375 million to give further certainty to the providers of homelessness services. We will also establish a National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation, similar to the model applied in the UK, to operate an affordable housing bond aggregator. We will provide tax incentives to private investors to build the social housing that we desperately need in every single state in this country. This is a government that is not only tackling the cost of living for ordinary Australians, it is providing a helping hand to those who are just starting out and building safe places for our society's most vulnerable.

When you start a family and your children are young, families find themselves burdened with all types of new cost pressures and all families want the best possible start for their children. Studies show that a quality preschool program in the year before school makes for far better outcomes in school years. In addition to our landmark $2.5 billion child-care and early learning reforms, the Turnbull coalition government will ensure that all children continue to have access to 15 hours a week preschool in that year before school. This is a $429 million investment over two years made by a coalition government that is not only doing the right thing by future generations, but is tackling genuine cost of living pressures for ordinary Australians right now.

Many Australians have cited health care and the growing costs around health care as a major source of financial stress. The Turnbull government reconfirmed last night its commitment to Medicare and to the PBS system for which funding will now be guaranteed. It will be enshrined in legislation. But the government's commitment to easing the cost of living concerns about health care do not stop there. We are partnering with Medicines Australia to reduce the costs of medicines by $1.8 billion over the next five years. We are listing new drugs for patients with chronic heart failure at $510 million. We are funding public hospitals by $2.8 billion as a result of this budget. Medicines are cheaper, hospitals are well funded. This is a government that is tackling the cost-of-living pressures for all Australians.

The rising cost of energy is a major concern. In a resource-rich country like ours, Australians deserve affordable and reliable energy to heat their homes and to keep the lights on. In the short-term, the Turnbull government has committed to a one-off energy assistance package to pensioners, payable immediately to help with their rising energy bills. We have also commissioned the ACCC to inquire into the competition of the electricity and the gas retailers. We have provided $90 million to secure gas resources for domestic use and we have secured gas industry commitments to improve domestic supply. For the longer term, we are investing in a new generation transmission and storage capacity, including Snowy Hydro 2.0.

Finally, I am very pleased to share that the government is also restoring the pensioner concession card for those impacted by the asset test change introduced in January this year. This will allow almost 100,000 extra people to access discounts offered to concession cardholders.

This is, ultimately, a pragmatic budget. It is a budget centred on fairness, opportunity and security, which will assist all Australians. The government has chosen to prioritise those services that Australians rely on, especially our most vulnerable. I want to assure Senator Roberts that this is a budget that does, indeed, address the cost-of-living pressures for all Australians based on the principles of fairness, opportunity and security.