Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud to be able to make a contribution to this debate today. There are a few people here in the chamber watching the Australian democracy at work. I'm sure there will also be a few like me, before I came to this place, driving along at 4.30 and listening in after they've done the school pick-up. It's not always the most popular channel with the kids but sometimes the debate in this place is a part of people's real world.

What people look for when they come to this place is a bit of hope. They also seek the truth. They need to hear the truth because what we do here matters. What we've seen emerge in the period that the Albanese government has been in place is an understanding that when we say that we're going to look after the Australian people, we can't just come in here and spout words, as I've heard in some of the contributions from those who've preceded me. We actually have to do stuff. We have to do difficult things that will really help people. This is a government that is focused on helping people through the tough times in practical ways, and that does mean spending on the public purse to assist people in a time of real hardship. To every single one of the bits of assistance that the Albanese Labor government has given to small businesses, families and people who need access to medicines, all while still delivering two surpluses and paying down the national debt—every single time we've tried to assist—those opposite have said, 'No, don't do it.'

We are determined, as a government, to navigate Australia through these times of difficulty and uncertainty. We absolutely know that we need to ensure strong employment. That is the reality in Australia today. Happily, more people are working now than any time since the sixties, in terms of our population. A job is a powerful and wonderful thing. I have not forgotten about the students that would leave my classroom in year 10 or year 12 and how excited they were to get in the marketplace, bring their talent to the market and take home some wages. Fair wages for a fair day's work in a safe workplace—we have kept our eye on that prize. We've ensured that people get the support that they need when they really need it.

I will turn to the tax cuts for all Australians. If the Liberal and National parties had had their way, people with very high incomes would have had a much, much bigger tax cut and people on low incomes would have got zip, zero, nothing. That is not how you help people when they're struggling with the cost of living. Labor's tax cuts, with an emphasis on low- and middle-income earners because we don't want to leave people behind, are a reflection of what we believe. We believe that you should be able to go to work, do a good day's work, get a great opportunity to earn more and keep more of what you earn, and do with it what you wish for your benefit and the benefit of the family that you are a part of—saving part of it, spending part of it, building a future of hope for yourself. We are the party of hope. We are the party of practical response to the very real challenges that Australians have faced, and every time we've responded we've had a wall of negativity from those opposite.

We want Australians to earn more and to keep more of what they earn, and that's why we gave tax cuts to every working Australian, not just some. We've ensured consistent wage rises for all award wage earning employees, and we've ensured stronger rights for workers, not undercut. We don't want people who are wearing the same uniform, standing side by side doing the same job, getting different levels of pay. That is just not the Australian way.

Senators on both sides of the chamber deserve the same pay. We are entitled to different thoughts and different words, but we deserve the same pay. Every Australian doing the same job deserves the same pay. That is a Labor commitment, and we will continue to offer Australians a fair and just Australia.