Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is so good to be back here in the Senate in 2023, after what was an absolutely massive 2022. In May last year the Albanese Labor government was elected on a positive platform to build a better, fairer country. Since our election we've been working tirelessly to deliver on this agenda.

We've introduced measures like cheaper medicines for millions of Australians. In fact, for the first time in the 75-year history of the PBS the co-payment for general scripts has fallen, making a significant difference for families who rely on this. We've introduced legislation to support 10 days of paid domestic and family violence leave into the National Employment Standards, meaning no-one needs to choose between a day's pay, their livelihood, getting help and getting out of a dangerous situation. And we've introduced the legislation underpinning the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which will restore integrity to our federal parliament.

We advocated for the biggest increase to the minimum wage in years, which saw a 5.2 per cent wage increase for some of Australia's lowest-paid workers, a wage increase that was long and well overdue. We've gotten on with the job of fixing the crisis within our aged-care system so that our oldest Australians can live in comfort and dignity. We saw that crisis worsen and worsen over the past nine years of the previous government. We are funding 180,000 fee-free TAFE places to help fill the skill shortages in our economy. These places will come online over the course of 2023, with applications already open.

As well, in 2022 we took important action on climate change to help preserve our nation and the wealth of future generations, legislating for a 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050. This was something we know our community, environmental groups and business had been calling on for years, essential to providing certainty to guiding investment and to making a difference on the threat of climate change.

And in 2022 we made commitments that I am personally deeply proud of—our investment of $284 million in First Nations health infrastructure across Australia, including $13.35 million to rebuild Yadu Health in Ceduna and $8.9 million to build a primary healthcare clinic for the Murrurundi Aboriginal health service in Murray Bridge.

We took to the election in 2022 an ambitious agenda, one driven by the deeply held Labor ambition to build a better and fairer country. I am proud of the work we have done in 2022, but more importantly I am focused on the work that remains ahead in what is set to be another huge year because in 2023 we are expanding paid parental leave. From 1 July this year Australians will have access to an expanded scheme, expanding it to a full six months available to parents welcoming a new baby into their family by 2026. This will be the biggest increase to paid parental leave since its inception under the last Labor government and will help parents, mums and dads, spend more time with their children in those critical early months where we know those connections formed are so important to a child's development and wellbeing. We don't want any Australian parent having to choose to not spend those first few months forging those bonds and those connections with their child because they can't afford to take leave.

From 1 July we will see Australian families and their kids be able to access more affordable early learning. We know what a difference this will make. Access to quality early learning is vital for the development of children. It shapes and impacts their outcomes in life. Providing children with an environment to engage in play based learning, to help build those critical brain connections that will set them up for a lifetime of learning is vital work, and it's work that our parliament is helping to advance and contribute to.

We'll further build on it with the work of the Early Years Strategy, which will be developed this year as well. In the first five years of life we can make our biggest impact on the outcomes of children, on the outcomes of family, on our future productivity, on our wellbeing and prosperity as a nation. Our Early Years Strategy will help improve government service delivery and help set up our youngest Australians for a successful and prosperous future. I'm very much looking forward to all of the South Australians who I know share my passion for early learning and development being consulted on these strategies so that we can develop something that will be truly impactful.

Of course, in 2023, as we look ahead, Australians will also have the opportunity to vote for constitutional recognition of our First Nations Australians and a voice to parliament. This is about recognising First Nations Australians in our Constitution. It is about consulting them on the issues that matter to them, on the decisions government takes which will impact them. The Uluru Statement was a generous and gracious offer from First Nations Australians towards a more reconciled future, and in 2023 it will be significant. We will have our opportunity to respond to that call with the same generosity and graciousness. I have been absolutely heartened already this year by the number of South Australians who reached out over the summer to tell me that they will be supporting the 'yes' campaign. They are keen to get out there and get involved. I will be supporting it too and look forward to the outcome of this referendum and being able to walk together towards a more reconciled and united future. The voice is not a radical proposition; it is a simple one and it is a kind one. I'm very proud to be part of a government that is supporting it.

We know that 2023 will also bring particular challenges. We know cost-of-living pressures are already biting hard, and they are front of mind for many, many South Australians. Our government is committed to working with South Australians to ease this pain, including through making the cost of medicine cheaper, making child care cheaper and doing what we can to promote wage growth. But of course there will be more work to do in 2023.

In my state, especially, there will be particular challenges confronting our community. The impact of the summer floods, which inundated towns along the River Murray, has been significant. The state government anticipates these floods will be among the worst that South Australia has experienced in decades, and the impact on homes and businesses has been confronting. We know that flows into the River Murray reached a peak of 185.9 gigalitres per day on 22 December and remained elevated, well above normal levels. Right now, across South Australia, families and communities are taking stock of the damage to their homes and businesses, with the SES estimating that over 3,000 properties were impacted by the flooding along the River Murray and with more than 1,000 kilometres of roads flooded in weeks.

Of course it's deeply upsetting too that there are an estimated 750 First Nations heritage sites which may have been inundated and damaged during the flooding. While the total financial impact of it will take time to calculate, it is expected to be amongst the worst natural disasters, in terms of the economic impact, in our history, and the state government has already announced significant packages for rebuilding local infrastructure.

I want to take this opportunity before the Senate to express my heartfelt condolences to all South Australians and to all the volunteers and staff of our emergency services, who have been working tirelessly over the summer to protect lives, to protect property and to assist their fellow South Australians to deal with these floods and the catastrophic impact of them on their communities. We know that without the committed and strong networks of volunteers across our regional communities the impact of these floods would have been much more significant. So I do express my heartfelt thanks, and I want to encourage any South Australians impacted by the flooding to explore their eligibility for the disaster recovery allowance, which they can do at disasterassist.gov.au. I thank Minister Watt as well for the work he has done on behalf of the federal government in supporting these communities.

It is the privilege of my life to represent the great state of South Australia in this place, and in 2023, as we look to the year ahead, I will be working tirelessly as a member of the Albanese Labor government to continue our work and our fight to build a better, fairer future for South Australian families. I have always said as a South Australian senator that I believe our best days as a state are ahead of us. They are ahead of us, and they will be ahead of us if we all work tirelessly in this parliament and in our state to be proactive about seizing and fostering the opportunities which come before us. Together we can build a state with the brightest future of our nation, and I'm dedicated to being part of that work in the Senate. I will be doing that as part of an Albanese Labor government building a better and fairer future. I look forward to, and am very energised by, the work that will be ahead in 2023.