Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Madam Acting Deputy President Grogan. Can I thank you for taking the chair so I'm able to participate in this afternoon's matter of public importance discussion.

Cost of living is something the Albanese government have always taken very seriously, and we are more than up for the task of ensuring that Australians can manage the onslaught of the global economic headwinds that face us. We will make sure that Australia comes out of this situation more financially and fiscally secure. Members of the Liberal and National parties have a very self-indulgent perspective. They think that because they're antiworker they're somehow the superior economic managers. That could not be further from the truth. In the Labor government we have a very robust mix of workers, business owners, economists, unionists and individuals who truly do understand the reality of what it's like to count every dollar and every cent. We've got a diverse caucus. The member for Fenner, a former ANU economics professor, provides excellent expertise that's both wise and well founded. My friend on the coast the member for Hunter, a five-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games medallist, worked as a coalminer and as a manager for a small to medium enterprise in the mining business. The Deputy Prime Minister, the member for Corio, a strong statesman and local member, has experience as a legal officer at the Transport Workers Union and as Assistant Secretary of the ACTU. Anthony Albanese, Australia's 31st Prime Minister, grew up in council housing with his mother, a single parent who was solely dependent on the pension, before going on to study economics at Sydney uni. You don't forget the things that you know from the world. We understand; we absolutely understand.

I know a thing or two about hard work and counting every dollar and cent that's spent. I was born to Irish immigrant parents in Western Sydney. My mum worked in a factory and my dad was driving machinery on the Warringah Freeway. When I was born we ended up living in a caravan in a family friend's backyard so they could save and get themselves ahead. By the age of nine I was changing my siblings' nappies, and by 11 I was doing the bookkeeping for my father and mother's family business. We worked hard, but we built a secure life, and there were times when it was tough. Senator Hughes, the long-term political staffer turned senator, when I say that I know that people are doing it tough, I really mean it, and so do all my Labor colleagues. We deeply understand. We know the challenges Australians are facing.

The reductionist dogma that we're getting from the LNP is both unhelpful and confused. In the same breath the LNP claim that the Albanese government are not doing enough to support working Australians doing it tough, yet the shadow Treasurer, Mr Angus Taylor, also wants the government to cut the spending, presumably starting first with Medicare, then education, then aged care. Our Medicare reforms are helping 11.6 million Australians to get to see a doctor when they need it and to get them into urgent care and not have to wait at an emergency ward. When you can't afford to see the doctor, there are real repercussions. We understand. They wreck Medicare; we have to rebuild it every time we come in. That is taking care of the people of this nation, because health matters. The shadow Treasurer directly advocated for spending cuts on 9 May 2023.

Those opposite are so devoid of talent after the teal wave swept most of the sensible members out to sea, leaving only a Morrison inspired marketing-agency shell of the party in their wake. They will say anything and everything in a rampant attempt to find some relevancy. But Australians have good memories. Australians remember the former Prime Minister Scott Morrison standing against Labor's pledge to increase the minimum wage by $1 an hour. That's how much the LNP care about working Australians. Australians remember the shadow Treasurer's and Senator Hughes's opposition to increasing bulk billing. Australians remember the member for Hume's and Senator Hughes's opposition to increasing the eligibility of the single parenting payment. To the member for Hume and Senator Hughes, I provide a fee-free piece of advice about practical action: helping single mothers is good economics. It's good for Australia. It's also the right thing to do, and it's helping people who are under stress. Expanding the eligibility of the single parenting payment for the youngest child from being eight to 14 provides more opportunities to save and live a secure life. It's not just about supporting the parents; it's about supporting the children too. We understand. Labor won't leave Australians hanging— (Time expired)