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

I thank Senator Smith for the question. We know that when those opposite were in government and they threw money around, it was not targeted and there was no care taken to prepare this country for the future. We inherited a mess and we're fixing it up bit by bit. We haven't taken our eye off addressing the pressure on inflation but are continuing to provide cost-of-living relief where we can without adding to the challenge of inflation. We have advocated for wage increases and we are seeing pleasing results there for the first time in a decade after those opposite opposed them at every point. We are delivering cheaper child care. We are delivering cheaper medicines. We are delivering fee-free TAFE and more university places so more Australians can get access to more training and better jobs. This is what Australians need from their government. The 180,000 fee-free TAFE places have reached their limit earlier than expected—60 of those places are going to women, and it's a fantastic result to see so many more people in training. (Time expired)