Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There is a very clear choice to be made at the next election. It will be a vote about our country's future. It's about this government securing the prosperity of all Australians versus Mr Dutton and his plan to take Australia backwards.

The Albanese Labor government continues to improve the lives of every single Australian, with cost-of-living relief and nation-building policies. Meanwhile, Mr Dutton and the Liberal Party have voted against cost-of-living measures at every single opportunity. They are not interested in delivering real outcomes. What they're looking for is a political jab. Energy bill relief, tax cuts, wage increases, cheaper medicines, cheaper child care, fee-free TAFE and more generous pay to low-income earners—none of those things were supported by those opposite. Under us there is extra paid parental leave. Urgent care clinics are being rolled out around this country. I know how beneficial that has been to my community in my home city of Launceston. If Mr Dutton was to have been the Prime Minister over the last three years, every single Australian would have been $7,200 worse off.

What does Mr Dutton stand for? That's the question we should be looking at. The main policy he has already brought to the Australian people around energy is to 'make Australia great again' with nuclear power. He hasn't costed it and none of the experts actually support it, but that's his big plan. The other plan he has just announced, on Insiders on Sunday, is he going to make cuts to Australian services and the Public Service, but guess what? He's not going to tell us where until after the election.

We cannot afford to see Mr Dutton elected as Prime Minister. We don't want to see bosses having long lunches that we have to pay for. That's the Australian people— (Time expired)