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

Well, that was one of the most ridiculous speeches I've ever heard! Here we have an opposition talking about the cost of living and the pressures on the Australian public, and they're the ones that voted against every initiative that we've brought into this place to take cost-of-living pressures off of the Australian public.

We know it's tough out there, but they want to make it tougher, because they vote down every initiative. Whether it's medicines, whether it's supporting Medicare or whether it's making energy prices cheaper out there, they vote it down every single time. When it comes to labour rights and to actually being able to negotiate a better wage increase, these are the people that don't support minimum-wage increases, and they're talking to us about the cost of living! They have no understanding of the responsibility they have when they come into this place to the Australian public, because if they did they'd be voting with us.

Then they have the audacity to complain about the fact that we want to get on with business and make sure that we've got legislation going through this parliament to support people right across the economy. They want to bog it down with either saying no or doing nothing. And guess what? They're consistently saying no, and they're consistently doing nothing.

Look at the things that they've turned around and supported. One of the craziest things was opposing the HAFF, the Housing Australia Future Fund. We've got 50,000 homes that could be built, and what does Senator Bragg do? He starts bagging the whole concept of making sure that we give some of the most disadvantaged people in our community, people that can't afford housing, an opportunity to turn it around and have the security of housing. Who are the people that they're making it difficult for? They're making it difficult for people that are victims of domestic violence. They simply don't like the idea that governments are here to support people through difficult times, to support the community and to make sure that things are better. They are simply about saying no and doing nothing. We want to make sure that essential workers don't get priced out of their own communities, and those opposite vote against it. They have it in their DNA. They just can't help themselves. Whenever it comes to supporting somebody or whenever it comes to supporting the community, they simply vote against it, and then they complain about things being tough. They always want to make it tougher. They consistently make it tougher.

Then you have to look at the question of what is in their DNA. In my home state of New South Wales, during the 12 long years that the Liberals and Nationals were in government, we saw that they turned around $3.5 billion worth of social housing that the community desperately needs right now. That $3.5 billion worth of social housing was taken out of the market—4,205 homes. That's what they did. They don't care about the Australian community. Then don't care about good policy. They care about figures on a sheet of paper that don't add up. We know that because, if they really cared, they'd be supporting the policies that this government has been putting in place to make a difference.

When you look again at what's in Labor's DNA, we're making sure that we tackle the issue of housing. Again, in my home state of New South Wales, the New South Wales government has made the largest single investment in social housing in the state's history. Over the period 2024 to 2035, over 8,400 new homes will be for women and children fleeing domestic violence. Again, those opposite just don't like that idea. Don't they actually talk to people out there in the community? The community is actually against what you're saying because it makes no sense. It's heartless. It's bad policy. It doesn't actually lift the country. It doesn't lift my home state.

Of course, when you start looking at initiatives that have been happening on that front, there is this lunacy and this obsession about what's happening with Cbus. You may be surprised to know—and I know they actually know; they just don't like saying it—that these superannuation funds are dually owned and managed. They're owned by their members, and they're managed by both employers and unions, and many of them have other directors. Some of them have different independent chairs. They're all accountable to APRA and other agencies. All these things are so, but they've got this obsession about Cbus—the fund that has turned around and received the Specialist Fund of the Year award for 2024, as well as Best Fund: Member Services and Best Fund: Responsible Investment. That's what they actually don't like.