Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024 and the Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living—Medicare Levy) Bill 2024. But, before I talk about those two bills, there is something I have to put on the public record. I understand that Senator McKim was speaking as he did because there's a state election in Tasmania, but for the Greens to say that the Labor Party is not the party of old—I will say this on the public record. There's one thing about the Greens: they never change. That's why in Tasmania, after this state election, there will never be a deal with the Greens, because we don't want to govern and have this fantasy of utopia, which is what we get from that end of the chamber on every piece of legislation. It's all about utopia and what they would do. One thing we know for sure is that the Greens will never, ever have to balance a budget, because they will never be in government. So they can say to the people whatever they want to say. They can promise the world because they will never, ever have to deliver in government. That's the reality of the circumstances.

Those on that side of the chamber want to make this a really big political issue, and say: 'It's a broken promise by the Prime Minister.' Yes, he did break his promise on the third stage. He did that because of the changed circumstances in the Australian economy and because at the heart of a Labor government is always fairness. These tax cuts will actually deliver a tax cut for all working Australians, not just the top end of town. The reality is that the stage 3 tax cuts proposed by the Morrison government—by the Liberals—would have given people like us in this chamber a huge tax cut. We don't need that. But Middle Australia was being left out. Aspirational taxpayers were neglected by those opposite, who always neglect them. That's because these taxpayers don't vote for them and because they don't live in their electorates. If you go through electorate by electorate in this country, those who would have got the biggest tax cuts are all in Liberal held seats. We don't have to be Einstein to work out why they were looking after those voters, do we?

I want to talk about what this means to the 84 per cent of taxpayers who will get a bigger tax cut. They actually will get more support to combat the cost of living. This plan is a better plan for our country. It's a better plan than those opposite were offering to the Australian people when they were in government. The Albanese government's plan means more tax relief for more workers to help them and their families with cost-of-living expenses. It means that electricians and plumbers living in my home city of Launceston will get a tax cut. It means nurses in St Helens on the east coast of beautiful Tasmania will get a bigger tax cut. It means people working in retail in Hobart will get a bigger tax cut. It means people in Burnie and Devonport working in hospitality and in mining will get a bigger tax cut. People working day in and day out across this country will get bigger tax cuts. This is all about supporting all Australians who are working, to help them benefit from these tax cuts.

These tax cuts build on our broader plan to ease the cost-of-living pressures and to come up with tens of billions of dollars in relief across child care, energy bills, rent, access to free TAFE, and medications, which is already rolling out and benefiting our economy. We have cheaper medicines. We have cheaper child care. These are real benefits to everyday middle Australians. The cost-of-living tax cuts for Middle Australia mean that every taxpayer will get a tax cut from 1 July this year. The average worker will now get more than $1,500 a year. Teachers, nurses, aged-care workers, disability support workers and early childhood educators will take home more pay because of our tax plan. So will young Australians, and so will those Australians living in our regions and rural areas.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living—Medicare Levy) Bill 2024 is also an important piece of legislation which will affect most Australians. This is another way that the Albanese Labor government is providing tax relief to Australians on modest incomes to help with the cost of living. It means more help for more people via the tax system by adjusting the Medicare levy low-income thresholds. It means 1.2 million Australians get to keep a little bit more of what they earn, and that's important. Most Australian residents pay the Medicare levy, charged at two per cent of their taxable income. We're increasing the low-income threshold by 7.1 per cent for singles, families, seniors and pensioners, in line with the average annual growth in the consumer price index.

As I've said in this place many times, within my home community, the state of Tasmania, the Albanese government has tripled the bulk-billing incentives, supporting 11.6 million Australians to access a GP with no out-of-pocket expense. In my home state of Tasmania, that means an awful lot. We're an older population, so getting in to see your GP is so important. It's also important to reward those GPs to allow them to assess and to bulk-bill more people. On top of that, the state Labor opposition are promising to take away payroll tax on GP surgeries. That is going to have a huge impact in my home state of Tasmania. They do it in some other states.

But, as usual, whether it's in this place or in my home state of Tasmania, if there is something sensible that's been brought on by Labor, the Liberals will say no to it, as they have done on that side since they've been in opposition. The word most frequently used by those on that side of the chamber is 'no'. They said no to any increase in aged-care workers' pay. To all Australians getting an increase in their wages and supporting their case, what did they say? No. To our energy bill relief, they said no. And then they come into this chamber during this debate and try and assert that somehow their plan was so much better. How could it be better when the majority of Australians who work would not have been any better off? How can they say that when they were only looking after the big end of town—people on $200,000 and more?

We want to see equity and fairness. If you work hard, you should be able to keep more of your money. We are doing things like reducing the cost of medications, which helps all families to be able to meet those pharmacy costs. We have made child care cheaper so that more women, if they choose, can go back to work, so child care becomes more affordable. We know that by making medicines cheaper in this country the savings to the Australian population over the last year alone were $250 million, spread across Australian households who have saved on their medication. That is amazing. We introduced the 60-day script. I might add that it was recommended in 2018 that those opposite, when they were in government, take that same step to reduce the amount of visits to GPs, to reduce the cost of medication, and they said no. The Pharmacy Guild in this country was so strong that those opposite decided not to proceed with that advice.

Coming into government, we were given that advice to introduce 60-day scripts. We could see the economic changes that had happened throughout the 10 years of inept government from those opposite. And so, despite the campaign they ran against us—and I understand the Pharmacy Guild and pharmacists were concerned about their own income levels. There was a threat that pharmacies would close across the country, across my home state. I'm pleased to say there have been no closures in my home state at all. But what we have seen are fewer visits to GPs for repeat prescriptions. Now, if the doctor chooses and the patient wants to take up that option, they have to see their doctor less frequently. That's the reality of that.

But what did those people opposite do when we brought that in? They voted against it because they always, always look after the strong lobbyists who are lobbying in their own self-interest. So I'm really proud of the fact that, as a Labor government, we stood up to the Pharmacy Guild and we are delivering those savings. And we are allowing GPs to see more patients and making access to GPs much easier than what it has been. Is there still a way to go? Yes, there is. Is there more that needs to be done to get more GPs in rural and regional areas? Of course there is. There's a lot more work to be done.

But while we're doing that and investing in those very important things like education—I'm sure that later this week I'll get to talk about higher education and a report that's just been handed to a minister. We're opening up universities to more students, to those who come from less well-off backgrounds, which is really important. But it's also about how you do those things.

But, like those opposite, the Greens come in here and espouse all these great ideas about spending money but they never, ever have to deliver on them. We had to change things because of the circumstances that our economy was in—interest rates hikes and the cost-of-living pressure that has been brought on from international markets and not just from what's happening here in Australia. We then said we had to change the stage 3 tax cuts for them to go ahead. It was hard to break an election commitment, which we said we wouldn't do, but you cannot, as a responsible, mature government, ignore the economic circumstances of the day. A government will fail the Australian people if it's not prepared to make the changes that are necessary because five years ago, when they were first suggested and the legislation was passed, the economy was different.

We are taking responsibility. We take responsibility in trying to ease the pressure on Australian families and that all Australians are feeling right now, especially those on lower incomes. We have to look after our young people, who are trying to establish themselves, whether they're at uni or in their first job or they're doing an apprenticeship. We also have to look after our seniors. We have to look after women. This will give more women money in their pay packets as well.

The Albanese government is 100 per cent focused on getting the cost of living and inflation under control. What would be really mature is to see everyone in this chamber supporting these two pieces of legislation. If you're really interested in making real changes for every Australian and what they take home in their pay packet and how they're able to deal with this cost-of-living pressure that they're experiencing at the moment—and no-one denies that. No-one denies that. We know that. We feel that. I listen to people in the community. I know how hard it is. I go to the supermarket and I see that people are thinking twice: 'Do I take this and put this in my trolley or don't I?' We are being responsible and addressing the imbalance of the former stage 3 tax cuts. I commend these two pieces of legislation to the chamber and I hope they're supported.