Doorstop interview - Parliament House

PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: We have got the first day of the spring sittings of the Parliament, and possibly one of the last weeks of Angus Taylor's time as Leader of the Opposition. Don't take that from me, take it from his colleagues who've been saying it to The Australian. And at least across the broad spectrum of ideologies in the Liberal Party, they all agree that maybe he's only got until Christmas, or if he's lucky, until the start of next year.

While the Liberal Party might be looking at - again - changing their leader, it's Labor that is here to deliver real change. In the Parliament, we will progress our plans to make sure the NDIS is sustainable, to make sure we invest more in Australia's media and to progress our plans to make sure that we can protect children from gambling harm. Since the Parliament has last sat, we have seen people have their taxes cut and award wages go up, and we have announced things like our investments in Paid Prac for paramedics and other allied health.

And of course, today is Census Day. For some 27,801,023 Australians, as of December 31st, 2025, we're all being asked to complete the Census. It is the way that we get the data to make sure we have got the Medicare services in the right places.

Make sure that we have got our tax settings right. To make sure that we know where people are in Australia so they can be properly democratically represented. Now, you don't have to be as excited as Andrew Leigh about the Census to complete it.

Every Australian has a responsibility. I encourage all Australians to complete the Census. And while we're talking about numbers, the other number that is really important to me is making sure that WA gets 75 cents on the dollar of GST.

We know that there's the foreshadowed Productivity Commission Report coming out soon. I just want to say, as a Western Australian myself and my WA Labor colleagues, we will fight every day to make sure we have got a fair share of the GST for Western Australia. We fought so hard for it in 2018.

It has made a real difference. It is good for the federation. It is good for WA.

And it is supported by the Albanese Labor Government. JOURNALIST: You mentioned those tax cuts that came through on July 1, what do you say to concerns that that extra money is just going to be gobbled up by inflation, by rising petrol costs, by that extra cost-of-living? We have found a range of different ways to provide cost-of-living support for people.

We had the temporary support when it came to fuel, which you mentioned. We have found five different ways to cut taxes for the Australian people and we are rolling that out. And we have got further tax cuts that will kick in next financial year.

But we recognise that tax is just one way that you can provide cost-of-living relief. The other thing that we have done is the significant investments in Medicare. We saw some excellent data out from Health Minister Mark Butler yesterday, showing that bulk billing rates are up.

Now, I remember some people in the Liberal Party said that Labor's plan would not work. They said it would make bulk billing worse. The proof is in Labor's investment in bulk billing - ensuring that more Australians can see a bulk billed doctor.

In my home state we saw a 4.8 per cent increase in bulk billing in Western Australia. That is a massive change, and it means that more people can get the healthcare they need without the financial pressure. JOURNALIST: A deal on gambling reform is expected soon.

Why aren't we going to see a total ban or an opt-in [inaudible]? We have responded to the Murphy Report in May. We put our views forward on that.

We have outlined a comprehensive plan, on top of the comprehensive work that the Albanese Government did last term. And if you want to stop gambling harm - what this is all about, then the big change that we made last term was BetStop. Now some people dismiss that, but 65,000 Australians getting support and getting protection from the dangers of gambling and the harms that gambling addiction can cause is real change.

We want to go further. We particularly want to make sure we're doing more to protect kids, so they're not having gambling advertising pushed to them at every hour of the day, and also they're not seeing their heroes, their sporting heroes, wearing gambling company stuff on their on their sports memorabilia. So we have got more to do, and we're negotiating in good faith.

That is what the Australian public tell us they want. They want us to hear all of that, from the Murphy Report, from the inquiry that happened last week, from a range of advocates. They want parliamentarians to talk, and we have seen that.

We have seen the Prime Minister, Minister Anika Wells, out there talking to other parts of the Parliament to try and get something done. We are a government that believes in delivering real change. You will see real change that will make a difference come out of this Parliament.

We have got to do it in coordination with others, and that's what we're doing. JOURNALIST: We've got the rate decision coming out today. Do you think the Government's done absolutely everything it can to counter inflation?

We have made significant progress. If you remember, inflation when we came to office had a six in front of it. Now it's in the high threes.

There is more work to do, and we've been really open about that. But we also recognise that it's putting real pressure on Australian households, and we don't pretend that people aren't feeling the pain of inflation. That is why we will do what we can in a responsible way to bring household costs down on things like Medicare, to bring household costs down on things like medicines.

And where we can, to return a little bit more of the money that people earn through tax cuts, all at the same time as being a Government that believes in getting wages up. And that's the other big difference between the Labor Party and the Liberal Party. Labor believes in getting wages up.

The Liberal Party always wants to suppress wages. JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] We put out the broad architecture earlier in the year, and the legislation's been out there for an inquiry. We will continue to negotiate, but we do want to make sure that the right supports are there, whether it be through Thriving Kids or other mechanisms, along with a sustainable NDIS.

The NDIS is something that is a proud Labor achievement. It came about because of the excellent advocacy of a range of people who recognised that Australia could do better. We have a disability support system that was more in line with our Australian values.

And so, we will continue in that spirit to work through all of the different views that have been put forward since. We are confident that we can get something done to make sure the NDIS is there, not just for the next decade, but for the next century. JOURNALIST: Do you think the Prime Minister should personally apologise to the Japanese Prime Minister?

There is no need for that. I mean, obviously, some of the reporting didn't accurately reflect the nature of the conversations had, where the host of a podcast said a few things. We have seen reporting overnight, that says that there's no concern from the Japanese Government.

Frankly, I don't know why we're still talking about this. Thank you. Subscribe and stay up to date Connect with us PM&C acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, water and community.

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