Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The coalition were wrong to abandon their own policy in 2016 and are wrong to engage today in a pathetic scare campaign against a policy they embraced and promoted just a few years ago. Do you know how much Australians have wasted, in the time that those opposite have backflipped on their own policy? Around $4 billion. Australians have wasted around $4 billion on fuel because the Liberal Party did not have the courage to stick to a policy that they knew was right. The fuel bill on that inaction is stacking up every single day and Australians are paying the price.

Mr Dutton should explain why he is spending more time spreading disinformation for the sake of it than finding a tangible and practical solution for long-term cost-of-living relief. While those opposite are out there running scare campaigns, the Albanese Labor government is doing something practical and tangible. It is pushing for wage rises to help the country's lowest-paid workers battle cost-of-living pressures. The coalition of chaos is distracted with taking Australia backwards by more than 70 years with its antiworker agenda and wanting Australians to work more but get less in their pockets.

Our government knows that low-paid workers are disproportionately affected by inflation and that the minimum wage is an important tool to counter this. It is not just window dressing. This is why our submission to the Fair Work Commission is pushing for a minimum wage increase to keep pace with inflation. Our tax cuts in July should be in addition to wage increases, not a substitute. We're taking the pressure off workers and family budgets right when Australians need it most. Those opposite just want to create more chaos, and they expect people to work more and earn less. What a shame.

Thanks to the Albanese Labor government's steadfast commitment to delivering meaningful cost-of-living relief for everyday Australians, families and Easter bunnies participating in Easter this weekend can take home more in their Easter baskets. Since Labor took office, this government has delivered billions in targeted and responsible cost-of-living relief: electricity bill relief, cheaper child care, increased rent assistance, more Medicare bulk-billing, cheaper medicines, boosts in income support payments and fee-free TAFE training. We're building more affordable homes, expanding paid parental leave and paying super on paid parental leave too. But that is not all we're delivering this Easter.

From 1 July 2024, every Australian will receive a tax cut. Labor's tax cuts deliver more relief to more people in a way that is fiscally responsible and does not add to inflationary pressures. We want Australians to earn more and to keep more of what they earn, and our bigger tax cuts for more taxpayers will make that happen. The average taxpayer earning around $73,000 will now get a tax cut of more than $1,500 a year. That's around $29 a week. Australia's essential workers, such as nurses, teachers and truckies, are some of the most likely to benefit, with more than 95 per cent of those taxpayers getting a bigger tax cut under Labor. Thanks to Labor, working parents—particularly women with young children—will now be meaningfully supported in their return to work. Under our changes, parents earning less than $45,000 will now receive a tax cut. This will significantly boost the take-home pay of Australians on modest incomes and people working part time. Our tax cuts are good for Middle Australia, good for women, good for helping with cost-of-living pressures, good for labour supply and good for the Easter Bunny this weekend.

While we've secured a tax cut for every taxpayer, Peter Dutton and the Liberals argued against cost-of-living relief. They're interested only in running pointless scare campaigns. Labor's tax cuts will make a real difference for 13.6 million taxpayers who will receive a cut—nearly three million more people than would have benefited from Scott Morrison's plan just five years ago. We're delivering more tax cuts to more people.