MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE

Ms AMBIHAIPAHAR (Barton) (15:58): I want to begin with a story about my Australian way of life. I was born in Sydney. I started with a bit of a basic lifestyle growing up in an apartment full of people, sometimes sleeping on the floor.

I lived between families who took good care of me as well, including my uncle. Even though I was born here in Sydney, I was actually considered stateless. I was stateless, and I got my citizenship when I was much older, not really understanding what it actually means.

But having experienced that lifestyle, having grown up in Australia and having been welcomed to this country, I have always considered it my home. I went to school locally at Hurstville Public. I went to university at Sydney Uni.

I became a scientist. I worked in a mortuary, and then I retrained as a lawyer. I went to UTS, I did that for a while, and now I find myself here in this parliament.

I own a home now. I've got an amazing husband, a pretty cool dog as well, Layla, and stability that I couldn't have even comprehended when I was a little girl sleeping on the floor in Hurstville. This country gave me so much hope and opportunity.

These are two key parts of the Australian way of life. Listening to the contributions from the member for Monash, I understand. But my concern is that our economic system has stopped giving many young people the same hope.

Kids growing up like I did may not feel that they have the same opportunity to build a better life. House prices have risen by 400 per cent over the last two decades or so, while fewer young people own homes. Former tax breaks helped investors outbid first home buyers and owner occupiers.

And young people are graduating into a workforce that is telling them that entry-level jobs are simply going to be completed by AI. They are looking at some of their leaders, across this chamber in particular, who are also telling them that net zero is a hoax and climate change isn't real, when they are literally living through so many natural disasters and hotter summers.

When young people cannot find secure work, afford a home or trust that their future will be safe, they understandably feel that the Australian way of life is slipping out of their reach. So I accept that some might feel that the economy is hard. But it's not that this government is trashing it.

We are actively changing the system for this generation and the next. And I back housing reforms aimed at renters who are trying to buy their first home, not the investor who is trying to buy their ninth. I back the 20 per cent reduction in HECS debt.

I support first home buyers having the ability to buy with a five per cent deposit, and I know that a lot of them are moving into my electorate of Barton—welcome. And I support new data from the ABS that shows that average weekly full-time earnings have now increased by more than $300 per week since the Albanese Labor government was elected. I support our major expansion of paid parental leave and super being paid on top of that, so that young adults feel secure enough to take the next step in becoming parents.

I support superannuation, especially for under-18-year-olds. To suggest that this is akin to giving super to cats and dogs is disgusting. And newsflash: some people have to start work really young to support their families.

They themselves should be supported in retirement, and superannuation makes sure that happens. These reforms are not destroying our way of life. They are about protecting what makes it possible: secure work, a home of your own, the freedom to start a family and the hope that your children can build an even better life.

And I want the next little Ash, who might be watching this, potentially, to say, 'I think I can be like her.' The reforms introduced by this Albanese Labor government are going to make sure that it is very possible.