Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Payman for her supplementary. We are taking actions, as this chamber knows, because we debated them in December last year. We want to take the sting out of higher power prices through direct energy bill relief through the next budget. It's direct support for households and businesses that, let us not forget, those opposite tried to block. There are encouraging signs that our plan for energy prices is beginning to work, with big drops in the prices on the electricity futures market.

We are also focused on growing the economy in the right way so more Australians can get the benefit from good skills, get good jobs and earn good wages. That's why we successfully argued for the Fair Work Commission minimum wage increase in line with inflation.

So we have legislation around cleaner and cheaper energy, we brought in a new pensioner work bonus, we are working on the new housing accord and we have important legislation before this chamber that will assist with cost-of-living pressures on Australian households.