Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was going to give a different speech, but I actually might give another one in light of the speech we just heard on the Greens' matter of urgency. The comments made before were quite alarming. There is nobody in this room, in this Senate, who does not see that inflation is an important thing for us all to tackle, but those opposite are suggesting that there is no policy initiative other than saying it's important to tackle and that it's the only thing we should be doing. Across the way, they were doing things and saying things for a very long time when they were in government, and, during the federal election, when we started talking about the cost of living, they didn't understand that dealing with the cost of living is about turning around and making sure that you have the capacity to pay for the costs that you're bearing. That's why the important changes that were made by Labor in the industrial relations field and the workplace relations field have been so critically important.

But, before the election, those opposite wouldn't even support an increase of $1 an hour to the lowest paid workers in this economy. They refused to turn around and support it, and they still won't break ranks. The former Prime Minister is gone—he is about to go, go, go out of the seat of Cook—and they still won't break ranks. He's made the right decision, but they still hold it to their hearts.

The cost of living is about a precept. It's an actual idea about how much money some people are making and how little others are forced to make. Look at the situation with the campaign during the 2022 federal election: the Liberal and National parties refused to commit to funding the aged-care pay order made by the Fair Work Commission. We just did that after this election. So, when they start talking about what needs to change, what they're really saying is that they're still sticking with their old policies—that if people are going to pay for it should be the ones who can least afford it, largely those in feminised industries like the care industry. We've paid and budgeted for that. We've made sure that we've put the money towards that 15 per cent wage increase, which is critical to the Australian economy, to the public and also to giving value back to the aged-care sector.

I always think that, when they start talking about inflation and what that means, what they're really saying is that you don't matter, because we know and everybody in here knows that inflation is important. For example, at the Senate estimates in 2021, the former Assistant Minster for Industrial Relations, Senator Stoker said that, if gig workers are earning less than the minimum wage, then that's their choice because they entered into the contract. That's what they think: you can never get paid too little. How do you deal with the cost of living? You can never get paid too little as far as those opposite are concerned. Of course, at the hearing of the Senate Select Committee on the Cost of Living on 1 March this year, Senator Hume claimed that wages and working conditions are irrelevant to the cost of living. That's what you've got to say when people get up here and start saying, 'What is the importance of tackling inflation?' Actually, they're not about tackling inflation at all, and they're not about tackling the cost of living. They're about turning around and making sure that they look after certain particular interests.

The tripling of the bulk-billing incentive for GPs has been critical. Increasing JobSeeker by $40 per fortnight is a step in the right direction. Providing $500 to more than five millions households to help with power bills is a step in the right direction. Increasing Commonwealth rental assistance by 15 per cent is a step in the right direction. Delivering a surplus for the first time in 15 years and reducing the deficit is important because it talks about our capacity for programs in the future—the things that many of us in this place, though not all of us, hold dear. Delivering an extra $2 billion for social and affordable housing is critical. They are critical steps, as are building a national emergency stockpile, making multinational companies pay a fair share of tax, supporting small business with cashflow support and extending the instant asset write-off. And there are a lot more. There are more and more and more.

I've only got 37 seconds left, but what I want to say is that part of this important program, going forward, is making sure that we've got money for affordable housing. It's a step forward. That is really critical. Investing an additional $2 billion to enable more social and affordable housing to be built is critical. PowerHousing described it as a 'transformative reform' that will 'enable the housing needs of significantly more Australians to be met'. The Housing Industry Association said, 'We have to put something in place right now.' The National Shelter described it as 'the most critical housing legislation to be brought forward in the past 10 years'— (Time expired)