Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Well, let's add some facts to this debate that we're having in the chamber today. The facts are that when we took office 2½ years ago inflation, on your watch, had been high and rising. Wages were low, and real wages were going backwards as a deliberate design feature of the economy that Liberal governments built. Today, under out government, inflation is declining. And under our government more than 1.1 million jobs have been created—the most new jobs under any government on record. Unemployment under our government is at the lowest average level in 50 years. And, under our government, wages are growing again, and real wages are growing, too. So, inflation is down, jobs are up and wages are up.

Those opposite can talk down those achievements, not just of the government but of the Australian people. On our side of the chamber, as a government, we are determined to build Australia's future. But right now, today, the future we are building together with Australians is at risk, and that risk is Mr Dutton and the Liberals. What awaits Australia under a Dutton led government is $350 billion in budget cuts. Mr Dutton is not paying Australians the respect they deserve by detailing what these cuts would be.

But Australians probably don't need Mr Dutton to tell them what he is going to cut when he takes an axe to the budget and slashes and burns $350 billion, because Australians know that the very first place Peter Dutton will swing his axe is against Medicare. Why? Because he has form. When he was the health minister of Australia, he cut $50 billion from Australia's Medicare system. He was the health minister who was voted the worst health minister on record by some people who know something about that: Australia's doctors. He tried to end bulk-billing as we know it by imposing a GP tax on every doctor's visit that Australians would undertake. He cut $50 billion from our hospital system, and today we are proud to say that as a government we are reinvesting in Australia's public hospital system.

And of course it was Mr Dutton who, when he was health minister, launched the infamous Medicare privatisation task force. So, this guy has form, and it is no wonder that, as Australia has faced post-pandemic inflation—like every other advanced economy in the world—Mr Dutton has opposed every single measure we have put in place to provide Australians some help during these challenging times. He opposed a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer. He said we should go to an election about it. He opposed $300 of energy bill relief and even more for small businesses. He opposed cheaper child care. He opposed fee-free TAFE. He opposed raising the minimum wage so that it would keep up with rising inflation. And he opposed all the measures we put in place to make jobs more secure in this country.

Australians want to know what Mr Dutton would slash and burn as he goes after his $350 billion in budget cuts. Would it be Medicare? I think Australians know that would be top of his list. What about free TAFE? What about cheaper child care? What about energy bill relief? What about those pay rises for hardworking Australians? All of it would be at risk under Mr Dutton. Australians want to see a government that is committed to building their future, and the contrast couldn't be clearer: higher wages and help for all under the Albanese Labor governments, or lower wages and budget cuts under Mr Dutton.