Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Walsh for the question and for focusing on the cost of living and the impact it's having on Australian households. We acknowledge that people are under pressure, but they would be under even more pressure if those opposite had had their way.

Our economic plan is all about helping Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn, and our policies are making a difference. We've delivered a tax cut for every taxpayer, and that relief is seen in every fortnight's pay cheque. We've delivered energy bill relief with $300 for every household and $325 for small business. We've increased rent assistance. We've made medicines cheaper by freezing co-payments and including support for concessional payments. We're reducing student loans and providing prac placements for students for the first time ever. Thousands of Australians are now attending TAFE thanks to our fee-free TAFE policy, with an additional 20,000 places from 1 January.

Of course, since we last met, we've had the final budget outcome, and the Albanese Labor government have delivered the first back-to-back budget surpluses in more than two decades. We don't do this as an end in itself, although the ability to deliver a surplus was something that, of course, eluded those opposite. Despite the 'Back in black' mugs that were commissioned, the i's were never dotted and the t's were never crossed. The fact that we have done that is not an end in itself. It's a responsible way for the government to make sure that we are showing spending restraint, getting the budget in much better shape, lowering debt at a time when inflation is higher than we would like, lowering our interest payments and making sure that we do have and can have the budget flexibility to respond should we need to in the future.

These surpluses are about fighting inflation and making room for that cost-of-living relief. (Time expired)