Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to use my voice in this place on behalf of the community in Western Australia to urge Labor: do not continue with your plans to give $243.5 billion to billionaires. From the university student living in the Perth CBD, to the dad living in Bassendean, to the FIFO worker I met in my local shop in Baldivis, all are united: billionaire do not need more money from this government—not now, not ever. Labor's plan, the so-called stage 3 tax cut, would see them give again—just for the record, folks—$243.5 billion to the megawealthy over the course of the next 10 years. It is hard to imagine just how big that amount of money is, so let me break it down for those following along tonight.

With that money, we could end homelessness and build enough accessible housing in the next 10 years to ensure that every single person on the public housing waiting list has a home to live in. We could improve the mental health and wellbeing of our community by investing in prevention, ensuring everyone has access to a psychiatrist, a psychologist or a peer worker, with cost being no barrier. In addition to that, we could give everyone the opportunity to go to the dentist and get the services they need to put a smile back on their face. And we would still, after all of that, have money left over to be able to do additional things—to increase the level of pension support payments, for instance. Together, as a community, we would have the ability to provide a home, support, free mental care and trips to the dentist—for me, for you, for everybody who is eligible for Medicare—and there would still be money left over.

This parliament is all about choices, and Labor is choosing to side with the billionaires instead of providing the community with the things we need right now. Getting dental care is made to feel like a luxury. It is out of reach for too many members of our community, and it is simply too expensive. This is a political choice. The system has been designed in a way that locks people out. I have heard from members of the community, particularly in Western Australia, who say that they have been unable to eat properly or have missed work due to tooth pain. They have, for instance, delayed the removal of their wisdom teeth, living for months with head and neck pain as they attempt to save up the hundreds of dollars necessary for the treatment. They have failed to have teeth removed or have not been able to have them replaced because they cannot afford restorative work or a new tooth. And they are sitting right now with, for instance, a seriously loose set of teeth, their only current avenue being to hope that they do not fall out.

Our community deserve of better than this. It is time for Medicare to be expanded to include our teeth. The Greens have a plan to make dental care free. We must move to a universal dental system that tackles dental disease proactively. Everybody could go to the dentist for free under this scheme, ending the worry of paying for dental services. Importantly, it would include a broad range of services. Whether you have a tooth that needs restoring or a cavity that needs filling or whether your kid needs orthodontic work, the Greens want it to be covered by Medicare.

If you're listening to this and thinking to yourself, 'Well, that sounds nice, but it's surely not possible,' I am here tonight to tell you that it is. It is a matter of choices, and the Labor Party has a big choice to make. Right now they are choosing to continue with their plan to give over $243 billion to billionaires. That is more than three times the amount that it would cost to give everyone free dental care. Shame on them!