MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Ms FERNANDO (Holt) (16:06): This is a responsible budget—one focused on relief, resilience and reform. This approach matters because we are governing in a difficult global environment. Conflict in the Middle East has pushed up oil prices, disrupted supply chains and placed immense pressure on household budgets.
In my community, families are feeling the pinch every single time they fill up the car, pay their bills or do their weekly grocery shop. That is why this budget delivers real cost-of-living relief. It delivers tax relief for every Australian taxpayer.
The new working Australians tax offset will provide up to $250 for working Australians from 2027-28, alongside a $1,000 instant tax deduction to simplify tax time and provide immediate practical support. For everyday Australians in my electorate of Holt, it deeply matters. This budget also backs the small businesses that keep our communities moving.
Australia's 2.7 million small businesses are the backbone of our economy. That is why the government is delivering $3.5 billion in new business tax relief. We're making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent, giving small businesses more certainty when investing in equipment, technology and tools.
We are also introducing a permanent two-year loss carry-back, helping businesses bounce back faster and withstand unexpected volatility. For startups and innovators, loss refundability will help new businesses grow in their first two years. These measures back the people who back our community, because when small businesses do well our whole community thrives.
We are backing Australian farmers. We are strengthening biosecurity, opening new trade opportunities, investing in fuel and fertiliser security, and supporting producers through hardship. That same principle guides our approach to housing.
We know that housing remains one of the biggest pressures Australians are facing. Too many young people are working hard, saving and doing everything right only to feel the dream of owning a home slipping further away. That is why our government is reforming the system to support more first home buyers and rapidly increase housing supply.
We know it isn't enough to simply announce more homes. We must build the essential infrastructure to make those homes a reality. That's why this budget commits $2 billion through the Local Infrastructure Fund to deliver the roads, water, power and sewerage required for new developments.
Health care is another central pillar of this budget. The government is investing an additional $25 billion over five years into our public hospitals. We are also making Medicare urgent care clinics a permanent part of our healthcare system.
This means more families can access care when they need it without spending hours waiting in a busy emergency department. On this side of the House, we are easing cost-of-living pressures, strengthening Medicare and building more homes. But, from those opposite, we've heard no serious plans—just uncosted ideas, detail-free cuts and division.
The clearest example was the opposition leader's proposal to deny permanent residents access to the NDIS and 17 support services. Let's be clear who they are targeting. These people are not strangers.
They work here, pay taxes, raise families and enrich our communities. In Holt, they are nurses, aged-care workers, teachers and tradies, small-business owners and volunteers. Many have lived here for years.
I know this story because this is my story. I came here as a very proud migrant, and I know their pride and sacrifices and the contribution migrant families bring to Australia. They do not weaken our nation; they strengthen it.
To target them for a cheap political gain is not leadership; it is division. And it has no place in our country, while those opposite rely on divisive scare campaigns and desperate attempts to chase One Nation politics.