Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is right, Senator Bilyk, they did. Not one of them came to any major fruition—no outcome. And housing has been wallowing in this dark place for a very long time. We did not get to a place where we have a housing shortage overnight. Those things don't happen overnight. It was 10 years of neglect that we saw there. And what else was going on in 2022 when those opposite lost government? Inflation was more than six per cent. They stand there, day after day, and go on and on about how bad things are, but inflation has halved—more than halved—in 2½ years. As they stand there and spit out their talking points about how terrible things are under a Labor government, they're still sore that they lost in 2022. Things are not worse in that sense.

We know that there are real global pressures, we know that there are significant issues and we know that people are doing it tough, which is why for the last 2½ years we have worked on making the situation better by supporting Australians and helping them to do better. We know that it's tough, we know that we're seeing this global scenario and we are working to make a difference. Not only did those opposite not have any major policy agenda for 10 years, not only did they particularly neglect energy and housing, but they also did everything they could to rail against real wage increases for people. Their whole approach now is to cut, to restrict and to tax our health services—that's what we hear: slash government and services, and reorient the tax system as it stands to focus on the wealthy. Let's not even start talking about education and training, because we're hearing an awful lot of crickets from over there.

We know Australians were really starting to feel the pinch in 2022, but we are seeing positive indicators now. We've seen inflation more than halve since 2022 and we're starting to see some real tick-ups in opportunities going forward. We particularly see that Treasury is expecting that real disposable household income is going to grow by 3½ per cent this year. That would be the fastest growth in more than a decade. There are those green shoots. In 2 ½ years we have worked so hard to clean up the mess that those opposite created in a 10-year space of time. I think that's pretty good start.

What we've done is actually get wages moving. What we've done is create more job opportunities and more training opportunities. One of my favourites is the fee-free TAFE and the opportunities that fee-free TAFE provides for people out across our community, not just for young people but for people transitioning into those industries of the future. We're cutting student debt.

We've had significant increases in rent assistance—increases we haven't seen in 30 years: 10 per cent this last year and 15 per cent the year before. We are targeting exactly where people are feeling the pain, and it's starting to work. We are starting to see the fruits of that work. We're starting to see people's incomes look better. Like I say, real disposable income is looking to grow. That's real money in the pockets of real people.

That's the big difference. We believe in supporting people. We believe in people earning more and keeping more of what they earn. That is how we make a difference—as opposed to those opposite, who have a completely opposed approach to that. They want to see your wages cut, they want to see your jobs cut, they want to see your services cut and they want to see your taxes increase.