Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Sheldon, for your question. We know that there are people doing it tough right now across Australia, and that's why helping Australians with cost-of-living pressures is the Albanese government's No. 1 priority. We are driving down inflation to take pressure off household budgets. We want people to earn more and keep more of what they earn, but we know that there is still more to be done. Labor's economic plan provides relief where it's needed without adding to inflation.

A particular focus of our plan is helping younger Australians. In last year's budget we increased rent assistance, we poured billions of extra dollars into building more homes and young people's wages are now growing above inflation. From 1 July this year, we are delivering tax cuts for every taxpayer, rewarding hard work and putting more money back in Australians' pockets. Under Labor, younger Australians will get a tax cut which they wouldn't have received under the Liberals and Nationals.

As part of tonight's budget, the Albanese government has cut the student debt of more than three million Australians, wiping around $3 billion in student debt. We will cap the HECS-HELP indexation rate at the lower of the consumer price index and the wage price index. Not only that but we are backdating these changes to wipe the effects of the spike in the HECS-HELP indexation rate in 2023.