Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government. Why am I proud? Because we are addressing the mess that those people opposite created over nine very long years. It's all very well for us to have a fairytale contribution to this debate. Next it'll be goblins and witches that come out, and we're going to rewrite history once again. But the reality is that we were left with a trillion dollar debt. That's what those opposite left for the Australian people, not just the Labor government but the Australian people—a trillion dollar debt.

We had a contribution just then about aged care. I'm gobsmacked—I really am—that anyone from that side of the chamber would come in here and question the Labor government's commitment to aged care after 10 months of being in government.

What have we seen on that side? What we saw over nine long years was a failed government and five ministers who failed in aged care. They were so bad they had to call a royal commission into their own failings.

What has Labor done since we came into office? We have focused on respect and proper care. We want to put nurses back into residential aged care. These are the things that we are doing and the things that we are addressing. There's no getting away from the fact that there is a cost-of-living crisis and people are doing it hard. If you were really sincere about addressing this crisis, then you would support the Housing Australia Future Fund. That's what you'd do on that side of the chamber, because the biggest cost-of-living crisis for the Australian community—