Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator O'Neill for her ongoing interest in pushing down the cost of living, particularly for constituents in her great state of New South Wales. The centrepiece of the budget we hand down tonight will be a $14.6 billion cost-of-living relief package that is calibrated in a way that doesn't add to inflation.

Our economic plan has three parts: relief, repair and restraint. I'll repeat that for Senator Birmingham's benefit: relief, repair and restraint. This includes cost-of-living relief where it's affordable and responsible, and it also focuses on the repairing of our supply chains. We need to show spending restraint to ensure we're getting genuine value for money from investments in our economy and our people so that we can clean up the mess left behind from that lot over there. We've carefully calibrated and designed this budget so that it takes pressure off the cost of living rather than adding to it. This will be a budget in the best Labor tradition. I'll repeat that. This will be a budget in the best Labor tradition, providing help for vulnerable Australians with cost-of-living pressures and having an eye on the future and responsible economic management. Our aim throughout, whether it is the cost-of-living package, our broader investment in energy and other efforts to grow the economy, is to make sure that this budget is part of the solution to high inflation and cost-of-living pressures, not adding to the problem. It is important that as a government we focus on every policy lever available to us to tackle the pressures that are affecting more Australians' ability to make ends meet.