Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

You are a stickler for the rules, Mr Acting Deputy President! Last night, Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered a budget for every single Australian. It is a budget that is all about striking a delicate balance between easing the strain on the cost of living and safeguarding against inflation. The core principles guiding our Albanese Labor government's third budget are responsibility, affordability and adaptability. Just like our previous budgets, this one is sensible, feasible and tailored to the needs of the hour. At its core, this budget is about addressing the immediate concerns of everyday Australians while laying the groundwork for future prosperity. It's about offering relief without making inflation worse—a task that's easier said than done. This budget is all about getting wages moving again but keeping more of those wages that you earn. In our regions, this is especially important. It's where the impacts and pressures of the economy and the nation are often felt the hardest.

We are tackling this challenge with a three-pronged approach: relief, repair and reform. 'Relief' means that we have measures in the budget to help Australians cope with the rising cost of living without further inflating the economy. This includes tax cuts for every single taxpayer, providing essential breathing room for families grappling with increasing expenses. 'Repair' means focusing on mending our budget and supply chains to build resilience against future shocks. This is about cleaning up the financial mess we inherited, ensuring that the nation's fiscal health is restored. 'Reform' is about preparing for the future growth, innovation and productivity that this nation deserves. This includes significant investment in building more homes, reforming our universities, strengthening Medicare and the care economy and broadening opportunities across our country, especially in our regions.

This budget is both responsible and restrained, providing more cost-of-living help, such as energy bill relief, for every household and a tax cut for every single taxpayer. We recognise the difficulties Australians are facing, which is why those measures are designed to ease the pressure without adding to inflation. All 13.6 million Australian taxpayers will benefit from this tax cut, with an average reduction of $1,888 annually, or $36 a week. Additionally, there will be $300 in energy bill relief for all households and $325 for one million small businesses. This energy bill relief, coupled with the Queensland government's measure, will mean that Queenslanders will be saving $1,300 on their electricity bills, potentially not spending a single cent on electricity until next year.

We are ensuring that Australians won't have to pay more than they need to on their medications by freezing the cost of PBS medicines. We are waiving $3 billion in student debt so that three million Australians will have the chance to get ahead without falling behind. We are supporting nurses, teachers and social work students by introducing pay for pracs. Superannuation will now be paid on paid parental leave. Additional funding will be provided for emergency food relief. Higher wages are a provision for aged-care workers and early childhood educators, and the freeze on deeming rates for 876,000 income support recipients will be extended. Pushing aside the political noise that we'll hear from those opposite, the message of this budget is very clear. We're here to clean up the mess and chart a pathway forward, and we're doing just that.

The Liberal National Party had us on track to exceed a trillion dollars of debt. But, because of our responsible economic management, gross debt will be significantly lower. We're getting the budget back in better nick, cleaning up the budget mess we inherited and aiming for the first back-to-back surplus in almost two decades. What will we hear from those opposite, particularly from Mr Dutton, when given a chance to respond to this budget? Will they say what they will cut? Will they call for us to stop spending? Will they call for us to spend more in areas that they consider important, like nuclear power reactors? Where will these nuclear reactors go? These are the questions that Australians will want to have answered by those opposite every time they get up to criticise this budget. We know this budget is a budget for all Australians, and we're proud to deliver it.