QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator WALSH (Victoria—Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth) (14:19): Thank you, Senator Walker, for your question. Of course, there could be no better person to ask this question than the youngest senator ever elected to this parliament, and it is wonderful to have some of our youth representatives here in the gallery today, and we welcome you here.

This week, 150 young people are at Old Parliament House conducting parliamentary business of their own while we do the same here in this chamber and in the other place. There is one from every federal electorate. They are holding their own question time—hopefully a little bit better mannered than our own—debating ideas and talking about the issues that matter to them, because young Australians are not just our future.

They are shaping Australia right now today. The Albanese Labor government is listening to young Australians. We know that young people want to earn more.

They want to keep more of what they earn, and they want to get ahead too. That's why we're delivering higher wages and secure jobs across the nation. We have delivered five consecutive pay rises for minimum wage workers, many of whom are young workers.

We have delivered new protections for gig economy workers, many of whom are young workers. A big shout out and congratulations to Senator Tony Sheldon for all of his advocacy on this issue. We've protected penalty rates in legislation.

We have made wage theft a crime, and these are all important protections for young workers, because they do deserve to earn more, and they deserve to keep more of what they earn too, which is why we have delivered five tax cuts as well. To help young Australians get ahead, our housing reforms give them the opportunity to achieve the Australian dream and buy their own home, just like their parents did.

The PRESIDENT: Senator Walker, first supplementary?