Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have a great opportunity here to set the record straight in relation to this MPI, because there is nothing further from the truth than the fact that this government, the Albanese Labor government, is not doing everything it can to help Australians deal with the cost-of-living crisis. If we look at what's going to happen next week. On 1 July, every taxpayer in this country is going to get not only a tax cut but a larger tax cut from those that Mr Morrison, when he was Prime Minister, promised the Australian people. The difference is that low-income earners will also get the tax cut, which, under the Liberals and Nationals, they would never have gotten. We also know that, at the top end of town, people like politicians here are going to get a lesser tax cut than what they would have done under the Liberals.

We also know that from 1 July there will be a $300 energy rebate for every household in the country. We have introduced fee-free TAFE. We've reduced the cost of medicine. We've implemented urgent care clinics around the country, and they are helping families. You don't need to have a credit card to go and see a doctor at the urgent care clinic; you just need your Medicare card. So that's taking pressure off our hospitals and helping with the cost of living. We are doing more to incentivise GPs to bulk bill around the country, and that's having an amazing impact in the electorate of Bass where I live.

We have overseen three increases to the minimum wage. We've actually raised wages in this country, unlike the former government. It was their policy, as they come in here and crow about, to keep wages down. So we have done an awful lot already. We have actually improved paid parental leave in this country. We've made it more equitable so that both parents can share paid parental leave. We're bringing manufacturing back to this country. We want to invest in skills, and we want to invest in jobs that are high paying and highly skilled. All these things are helping with the cost of living.

It might be an idea, Senator Lambie, instead of coming in whinging and trying to get a grab for the media, to actually work with the government—