MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Ms URQUHART (Braddon) (15:43): Labor is helping Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn, while the Liberals' record tells us they would leave people behind. The opposition's criticisms are a hollow political attack from a desperate party that wants Australians to forget its record. When the Liberals were last in government, they kept wages low as a deliberate design feature of their economic policy.
They left Medicare under pressure, failed to deliver serious relief for families and presided over years of cost-of-living strain, without a plan for everyday working people. Now, from opposition, they are again trying to talk down the economy and talk down the support going to everyday Australians. Labor's reforms are about helping workers keep more of what they earn, supporting young people to buy their first home and making the tax system fairer.
Only Labor will deliver higher wages. Labor has backed pay rises for workers every year since coming to government. Since 2022, the minimum wage has gone up by more than $9,000 a year.
This year, almost 2.7 million Australians on the minimum wage or modern award wages are receiving another pay rise, backed by this Labor government. It matters in electorates like my own. It means more money in the pockets of cleaners, retail workers, hospitality workers, carers and people doing essential jobs right across Braddon.
Labor believes the people who work hard should be able to get ahead. Every taxpayer is better off under Labor. Labor is delivering tax cuts for every taxpayer.
For the average worker, that means around $2,800 more in their pocket each year. Labor's first tax cut began on 1 July 2024, a second cut was introduced in July 2026, and another will be introduced from July 2027. Workers will also be able to claim a $1,000 instant tax deduction without receipts from the 2027 tax year, and, from the 2028 tax year, the new working Australians tax offset will deliver a permanent $250 cut to workers' tax bills.
As a note to those opposite, this is what helping people keep more of what they earn actually looks like. Labor is delivering cost-of-living relief by strengthening Medicare and cutting the cost of medicines. In Braddon, Medicare urgent care clinics are now open in Devonport and Burnie, giving people free medical care.
There are now 19 GP practices in Braddon that bulk-bill all patients, and around 95 per cent of patients are seeing a doctor for free with the bulk-billing incentive. Labor has also cut the price of prescription medicines, with most scripts now costing no more than $25, or just $7.70 for people with a Commonwealth concession card. That is practical cost-of-living relief for people who need it most.
Those opposite should go and talk to those people, who need it most. Labor is helping families, parents, young people and first home buyers. Our five per cent deposit scheme is helping young people buy their first home sooner, with extra help for single parents and guardians, who may be able to buy with a deposit as small as two per cent.
Labor is also making the tax system fairer so first home buyers have a better chance against investors. From 1 July 2026, parents welcoming a new baby or adopting a child can access 26 weeks of government-backed paid parental leave, with superannuation now paid on that leave so those people are not left behind. Family tax benefit payments are increasing too.
Support payments have also gone up for young people who are studying, looking for work or caring for others. These are real measures that help people manage their budgets and plan for the future. The choice is very clear.
When the opposition throws around slogans about toxic taxes and economic mismanagement, Australians should see it for what it really is: hollow criticism from a party with no plan to lift wages, no plan to strengthen Medicare, no plan to make medicines cheaper and no plan to help families keep more of what they earn. The Liberals had their chance, and Australians remember that—low wages, household pressure and weaker services.
Only Labor will protect everyday Australians by backing better pay, cutting taxes, strengthening Medicare, making medicines cheaper and supporting the families that need it most.