Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In they come crying crocodile tears over the cost of living. I just want to remind people that those opposite oversaw a decade of wasted opportunity. They doubled the debt before the pandemic and went on to rack up $1 trillion of debt with nothing to show for it. They failed to get wage growth moving and even admitted their policy settings were deliberately designed to keep wages low. They contributed to flatlining productivity growth and stagnating living standards, overseeing the loss of 85,000 Australian manufacturing jobs. And to top it off, even though there are a whole list of things I could read out, they also oversaw an increase in child care fees of 41 per cent.

I find it quite laughable that the opposition come into this place without a hint of irony and complain about the cost of living. Have they not realised they're living in a glass house? Let's not forget when the current wave of inflation started. In recent years, quarterly inflation heights were reached in March 2022. And guess what? Those opposite were still in government. They created this crisis through almost a decade of wasted opportunities and inaction in government, and now they have the absolute gall to demand that we fix their mess yesterday.

Unlike those opposite, we're actually doing something about it. After almost a decade of failure by those opposite to tackle the housing crisis, we are investing $32 billion in providing more social and affordable homes for Australians and in helping more Australians own their own home. We've made health care cheaper by tripling the bulk-billing incentive, delivering cheaper medicines and rolling out bulk-billed Medicare urgent care clinics across Australia—including five in my home state of Tasmania.

Recently I used one of these urgent care clinics after hours, at nine o'clock at night. Can I say to the Bathurst Street urgent care clinic in Hobart: what a fantastic job you did. I was watching people coming in. It was orderly. People were seen in good time. I was in and out in an hour. No appointment was necessary. If not for the urgent care clinic I would have been at the Royal Hobart Hospital taking up space in the emergency department, but here I was seen within an hour and not taking up space in the emergency department. So please don't come in here and start bagging our urgent care clinics. Just because you didn't think of it and just because you didn't do anything for 10 years it doesn't mean all of our ideas are bad!

One of the other great things we're doing is providing $300 in energy bill relief to every household, and we've provided $3 billion in HELP debt relief and delivered 480,000 fee-free TAFE places. Not only are we helping to reduce household expenses; we're also boosting household incomes. And, since we came to government, the rate of the JobSeeker payment has increased by more than 18 per cent and Commonwealth rent assistance has increased by more than 40 per cent. We've expanded eligibility for JobSeeker and we're giving parents of children aged between eight and 14 access to the single parenting payment.

Labor is also, importantly, getting wages moving again. Thanks to our submission to the Fair Work Commission, the minimum wage has increased 14 per cent since we came to government, not to mention the announcement last week by Prime Minister Albanese. As a former early childhood educator, myself—for nearly 12 years—I was so happy to see that wage increase for early childhood educators. No matter what those on that side say when they say, 'They just play with the kids and wipe their noses,' that's wrong. Those on the other side need to go to an early childhood learning centre and see the work that is done—the preparation, the program planning and the care they take with the children.

Earlier, in two-minute statements, Senator Marielle Smith was pointing out, quite rightly, that the first five years of a child's life are the most important. For these children to be socialised is really important. For them to meet a range of people is really important. My own grandchildren go to child care and, I've got to say, it is fantastic. The workers there do such a great job—