Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

This government's first priority is to deliver cost-of-living relief, and you've seen that by the priorities that the government has put in place and has delivered on: every Australian taxpayer getting a tax cut, not just some; every Australian household getting $300 of energy bill relief; 2.6 million low-paid workers getting their third consecutive pay rise; stronger Medicare and cheaper medicines in every community; HECS debt relief for everyone with student debt; more homes built more quickly in every part of the country; cheaper groceries by strengthening the food and grocery code—all cost-of-living relief without adding to inflation. And, of course, we are planning the Future Made in Australia. There is more to do, but this is this government's agenda.

I remind the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, when he comes into this place talking about the cost of living, that those opposite have opposed every piece of cost-of-living relief we have provided. You've offered no help. You've offered no plans for people who are doing it tough. What you have offered is relentless and pointless negativity. And, of course, what we do know, is that those opposite are planning $315 billion in cuts. This is their recipe to get the economy back on track, they say. This is their recipe for a stronger Australia: cuts to Medicare, cuts to pensions, cuts to payments, cuts to housing and cuts to TAFE. This is what those opposite think leads to a better economic outcome for families. Given that you're the party that has always believed in lower wages as a deliberate design feature of the Australian economy, I don't think Australians will think very highly of your $315 billion worth of cuts.