Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Despite all the gloom and doom from my colleague opposite, this is a budget that will provide the cost-of-living support that Australians need. This is a budget that will look to the future and build the jobs and the economy that Australians need. We will implement this budget with the discipline that is required to put downward pressure on inflation.

Mr Dutton has the chance on Thursday night to put his alternative vision to the people of Australia, and I'm genuinely looking forward to hearing what he has to say. What will his grand solution be? Is it going to be the long-promised nuclear reactors dotted around the country after 22 failed energy policies over the 10 years when the Liberals had the opportunity to do something about energy in this country? Is it going to be the fantastic opportunity for Australians to raid their own super for housing? Is that what Mr Dutton is going to present on Thursday night, after 10 years of failing to build the houses that Australians need and failing to build the housing supply that Australians actually need to deal with the costs of housing? The opposition can get on with their fantasy solutions to the challenges that Australians face. We'll get on with the real solutions that are in our budget.

Helping Australians with the cost of living is our No. 1 priority in this budget. That's why the budget provides a tax cut for every single Australian taxpayer—an average of $1,800 for each taxpayer in the country. We are providing much-needed energy bill relief of $300 for every single household. We're providing more rent assistance for a million households, the people who need it the most. We're providing student debt relief and so much more to help with the cost of living today, including more homes and more Medicare as well. We are dealing with the challenges that people face today at the same time as looking to the future and building a strong economy for that future, because this budget invests in the people of Australia and their future.

The budget will bring new jobs and new opportunities to Australians across the country in every part of our country. Our Future Made in Australia plan will make the most of our potential and make sure that Australians get the benefits of our rich natural resources. This plan is going to put us in the global race. We will take our place in that race and bring the opportunities that Australians need to see for the jobs of the future with the energy of the future as well.

I'm really pleased that this budget will invest in our care economy as well. They are also the jobs of the future in this country. We'll provide for further wage increases for our essential aged-care workers, a workforce that the coalition refused to see and refused to invest in. We'll provide for a pay rise for our essential but undervalued early childhood educators as well, because we want to see wages moving in this country—and they are. Real wages growth is back in this country after 10 years of the Liberals just loving low wages. Real wages growth will continue in this budget because we believe in good, secure jobs for all Australians.

We heard a lot about inflation in this Senate question time. Like our previous two budgets, this is a budget that is responsible for the times. It is a budget that will put downward pressure on inflation. We are forecasting the first back-to-back surpluses in nearly two decades, and you couldn't produce one. We are banking the revenue upgrades and putting them back to the bottom line. We are putting downward pressure on inflation by reducing energy bills, and we know that that is going to work to bring inflation down. We know that further support for renters will help to bring inflation down as well.

What we know about the Liberals is that the only thing they know how to do is to slash and burn the programs that people rely on and to come up with fantasy solutions to the problems that people actually face. They know how to get the mugs made; they know how to puff on their cigars; they know how to pat themselves on the back; but they don't know how to get the job done. We will get the job done.