QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator MARIELLE SMITH (South Australia) (16:00): Labor has a plan. We're implementing the plan, we're in government with the plan and it's a pretty good plan. We don't need a prop to demonstrate that plan.

The plan is the reality of the life that we are living in government. While I welcome the return to a focus on the economy in question time—it's something which tends to escape the attention of those opposite a little too frequently—the fact is that, under those opposite, gross debt would have crossed the trillion-dollar mark three years ago. We know, if we put the facts on the table, that, if the coalition had been in power today, gross debt this year would already be approaching $1.2 trillion.

Labor's responsible economic management has helped get debt down from what we inherited from those opposite, and, as a result, Australia is avoiding more than $70 billion in interest payments. The international rating agencies Moody's and S&P Global have this month both reaffirmed Australia's AAA credit rating, noting Australia's low debt levels. Our responsible economic management has delivered one of the strongest budgets in the developed world while continuing to deliver meaningful and ongoing help with the cost of living, like five tax cuts, more Medicare and more bulk-billing.

The Liberals took a plan to the last election for higher taxes, bigger deficits and more debts. In contrast, we took a plan for lower taxes that invests in the things that matter—like critical cost-of-living support, because we know that Australians are doing it tough right now. We took a plan to invest in people's wages because we believe that high wages are a good thing.

We believe that people being paid fairly for the work that they do is a good thing. We believe that early childhood care workers, who do one of the most important jobs in our country—caring for our nation's children in a critical period of their development—and are supporting participation in the workplace and supporting productivity, deserve to get paid fairly for the job that they do.

For too long they were underpaid and undervalued. It's the same with aged-care workers. Aged-care workers do one of the most important roles in our community.

Everyone who has a parent or a loved one in aged care, as I do, knows how much we rely on the amazing and extraordinary dedication and care that those workers provide to our loved ones. They deserve to be valued for the work that they do. But the fact is they've been working in an economy which has undervalued what they do—and which has undervalued women's economic contribution.

So we have proactively worked to reform that. We have proactively worked to ensure that their wages go up. Of course, we're investing in things that matter like Medicare, with urgent care clinics right across the country making an enormous difference in people's lives.

Anyone who's got a kid who's broken an arm or sprained a foot—in those instances they don't need to be in emergency at a hospital or in a waiting room; they can get that care in an urgent care clinic. We're investing in cheaper medicines, $25 scripts, which is making an extraordinary difference to the hip pockets of Australians right around the country, and we're making sure that they can get longer prescriptions as well.

Our investments are about prioritising the things that matter. We have an Australian economy which is gathering momentum in the face of global economic uncertainty. We're focused on cost-of-living relief because we know how important that is for Australians, as well as investing in homeownership and trying to level the playing field so more young Australians can have that opportunity to own a home, like the generations before them.