Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last night the Treasurer delivered Labor's cost-of-living budget. It's a budget designed to help people who are under pressure, while setting us up for a future of prosperity. We're delivering immediate cost-of-living relief while putting downward pressure on inflation. Every Australian is a winner out of this budget.

We're delivering a tax cut to every taxpayer, with an average cut of $1,888 per year. We're lowering your energy bill by delivering $300 in relief to every Australian household and $325 for small business. We're tackling the housing crisis by increasing Commonwealth rent assistance by 10 per cent, on top of the 15 per cent increase last year—the first back-to-back increase in rent assistance for over 30 years—and by investing $32 billion to build 1.2 million new homes over the next five years. We're making health care cheaper and more accessible by delivering the largest investment in bulk-billing in Medicare's history, freezing the copayment and the cost of medicines and investing in another 29 Medicare urgent care clinics on top of the 58 we've already delivered. We're also abolishing $3 billion of student HECS debt and reforming debt indexation to make it cheaper and fairer for everyone to go to uni. Whether it's higher wages, lower taxes, cuts to energy bills or record investments in housing, health care and education, Labor's budget is delivering for all Australians, especially those who we know are still doing it tough.

We believe that we can and should make things right here in Australia. When the Liberals and Nationals were in government, they told our car-manufacturing industry to pack up and leave the country, destroying many small businesses and many medium-sized businesses in the supply chain, thousands of jobs and many communities across the country. What did they do? In the case of car manufacturing leaving the country, the vision from Mr Dutton for our economy was to dig up minerals, ship them over to China and then buy back everything we needed at a massive mark-up. That's the Liberals and Nationals' vision for the economy.

Our vision is for a future made in Australia. The entire world is transitioning to net zero over the next few decades. That means that, here in Australia and around the world, we'll see massive demand for solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and cables—all products that we have the materials and expertise to manufacture right here in Australia. We can be a renewable energy and manufacturing superpower, and our $222.7 billion Future Made in Australia package is a first step in delivering that vision. And, would you believe it, the Liberals and Nationals oppose it. They oppose investing in local manufacturing. They say investing in local jobs, local manufacturing and economic opportunity in our regions is a waste of money.

Instead, they want to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on building nuclear power plants around the country, only they won't tell us where they're going to put them. They won't tell us the final cost, how long it will take to build them, how they'll pay for it or where they'll dispose of the toxic nuclear waste. I don't want a nuclear power station or nuclear waste being dumped where I live, and I doubt Mr Dutton does either. So why should he expect anyone else to cop it?

According to the Treasury forecasts, our cost-of-living policies are taking three-quarters of a percentage point off inflation this year and half a percentage point next year. We know people are doing it tough, but the forecast is for inflation to be under three per cent by Christmas, compared to 5.1 per cent, which we inherited from the Morrison government. We have also delivered the first back-to-back budget surplus in almost 20 years, taking more heat out of the economy.

Of course, those opposite have been intentionally vague about what things they're going to cut and what they're going to slash and burn, but we know that the deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, has already said that she wanted to get rid of Labor's tax cuts. She said on national television that she absolutely supports repealing the tax cuts for every Australian. So we know the tax cuts are on the chopping block if Mr Dutton gets in. What else? We saw the shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor, on Insiders on Sunday boasting about how he opposed $45 billion of services in the last budget. That's before we even get to this week's budget and look at where the cuts are going to be. We know that when Mr Dutton was the health minister he tried to end bulk billing by making everyone pay to see a GP. So Medicare is under threat. He voted against the Housing Australia Future Fund. At a time when housing is so unaffordable for renters and first home buyers alike, he would cut the supply of new homes. He voted against our previous energy bill relief when every dollar counts in the weekly budget. They've called our investment in fee-free TAFE a waste of money. I know TAFE students trying to make ends meet don't think having education paid for is a waste of money. The Liberals and Nationals will cut the support from under people when they most need the government's help.

Not only is our cost-of-living budget delivering tax cuts for all Australians and record investments in making health, housing and education cheaper but our government has also been laser focused on getting wages moving again, after a decade of the Liberals and Nationals' deliberate strategy to keep wages low. We know people are doing it tough, but our policies have delivered real wage growth of 4.1 per cent, the highest wage growth since 2009. We've delivered the highest wage growth in 15 years while creating a record number of new jobs and keeping unemployment at a record low. We've also passed laws to make jobs fairer, safer and more secure for millions of Australians. We've passed minimum standards for gig workers and truck drivers, who were trapped in a deadly race to the bottom. We've made it easier for casuals to seek conversion to permanent work. We've closed a Qantas labour loophole. We've made wage theft and industrial manslaughter crimes.

We've made the biggest increase to paid parental leave since the previous Labor government introduced it in 2011. We've introduced paid family and domestic violence leave. We've introduced a right to disconnect from your job outside of your working hours. We've supported record wage increases for aged-care workers, and we've successfully campaigned for the biggest ever increase to the minimum wage. These policies have delivered the biggest real wages growth since 2009. Under the Liberals and Nationals' scheme for our economy, you're going to be working longer hours for less pay.

I want to say, when looking at some of the parts of my home town of Sydney, that there are some big winners from this budget. We know people are still doing it tough, but, in the seat of Lindsay in Western Sydney, taxpayers will receive an average tax cut of $1,521. That's more money in your pocket for your weekly shop or to cover all unexpected costs that might pop up. People in Lindsay have already saved over $2.4 million on medicines on the PBS, and we're ensuring that people continue to have access to cheaper medicines by freezing the maximum cost of filling a script. The Penrith Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, delivered by the Albanese government, has already had 3,209 visits. That's freeing up emergency rooms and cutting waiting times at Nepean Hospital. We're helping students in Lindsay by cutting the HELP debt of more than 19,000 residents and capping HELP indexation. Students I've spoken to are doing it tough too, and this will help them avoid being stuck in a debt trap.

Of course, we're investing in infrastructure across Western Sydney, in preparation for the opening of the Western Sydney airport. We're investing $115 million in the Mulgoa Road stage 2 upgrade, $100 million on upgrading Western Sydney rapid bus infrastructure and $400 million on upgrading Elizabeth Drive. The list goes on for so many electorates around the great state of New South Wales and across the country. It's a great budget. It's a great opportunity. It's time for people to get behind this great success story.