Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The claims that this government is doing nothing to address the cost-of-living challenge that Australians are facing are absolutely outrageous, so I welcome the opportunity to describe to you some of the measures that the government is putting in place—many of which have been opposed by those opposite—to help Australian families deal with the rising cost of living and the challenges that they faced from those opposite after 10 years of a do-nothing government. We are a government that is doing exactly what we said we would do. We are not only committed to reducing the cost of living; we have already taken action.

We're making medicines cheaper and we are strengthening Medicare. We cut the price of PBS scripts from the start of this year. Do you know what this could mean for the average family that might have two or three scripts? That's a saving of up to $450 a year. We've tripled the bulk-billing incentive, making the largest investment in this since Medicare began. This is just what is already happening. From 1 September, those medicines that can be prescribed for 60 days will save people up to $180 a year.

We know household bills are rising due to international inflation pressures—pressures that we're seeing around the world. That's why we've taken action. Our energy price caps are reducing wholesale electricity prices by up to 50 per cent. Over five million households and one million small businesses will receive targeted electricity bill rebates. We're supporting those families that are struggling with cost-of-living pressures. We've expanded paid parental leave to six months by 2026. We're investing in making early childhood education more affordable. Ninety-six per cent of families will be better off under these changes.

We're investing in the skills and training Australians need without the cost, delivering 480,000 fee-free TAFE places. As just one example, a Victorian early childhood education student can now save nearly $9,000 on their training. Importantly, we are getting wages moving again in this country. We supported the largest boost to award wages in a generation, an increase for roughly 2.7 million workers across the country. We've funded a 15 per cent wage increase for aged-care workers. Wages are growing under Labor at their highest level in over 10 years.

Of course, this is no coincidence. In the last decade, we saw a government that left people behind. Not only did they have no plan to address the cost of living; they seemed intent on raising it. The Australian people don't need reminding of what occurred under the former coalition government, but it sounds like those opposite do. Let's not forget that this was a government that wanted to charge a $7 GP tax. This was a government that tried to increase the cost of medicines by $5 and wanted to start charging for emergency department visits as well. Under the coalition, early childhood education costs rose by a staggering 49 per cent. In nearly a decade, there was no increase at all to the number of weeks of paid parental leave available to families. Just in case the memories of those opposite are selective, let me quote directly. The member for Farrer described fee-free TAFE as a 'waste of taxpayer dollars'. Those opposite described those low wages as a 'deliberate design feature' of their government's policy. And they of course opposed a $1 per hour increase to the minimum wage. They haven't learnt their lesson.

Since we've come to government, they've voted against $1.5 billion in energy bill relief. They've proposed allowing millions of Australians to buy two months worth of medicine for the price of a single prescription before the details were even announced. They've said no to more social and affordable housing, including for women and children fleeing family violence. Rather than moving motions to politically grandstand, how about those opposite actually support policies that will reduce the cost of living? We're working every day to make Australian lives better, delivering secure jobs, better wages and addressing the cost of living.