GRIEVANCE DEBATE
Mr VIOLI (Casey) (12:50): It's been another great season of local football and netball in our community in the Outer East and Eastern football netball leagues. Thank you to all the presidents, committees, volunteers and coaches who put so many hours into making sure our young men and women can play the great games of football and netball. Congratulations and commiserations to the Seville senior men's team, who made the grand final but, unfortunately, didn't come away with the win.
But it was a proud day for Seville, with all five netball teams bringing home the flag, as well as the under-18s footy team winning the premiership. So the future is bright for the Seville footy club. Congratulations also to the Mount Evelyn senior women, who won bragging rights as back-to-back premiers against Warburton-Millgrove.
However, it was a successful season for both sides, and congratulations to Warby Millgrove for coming up a division. Winning the flag and then making the grand final is a significant achievement. Congratulations also to my daughter, who happened to win her under-13s AFL grand final in her first season.
She was very proud. The Montrose division 2 women won their flag over Heathmont in the Eastern footy league, so well done to the Montrose women's team. So many other teams made grand finals.
Congratulations to you all—including the Monbulk veterans, who had a great result for the season even though they couldn't get the win against Gembrook. It's a great weekend of footy this weekend. I'm looking forward to being out there as the Wandin seniors take on Mount Evelyn in the premier division grand final of the outer east.
The Mount Evelyn faithful have waited 28 years to get back into the grand final, while Wandin are looking to go back to back. It's going to be a cracking game. Good luck to both teams.
I look forward to seeing everyone out at Healesville this weekend. Australians have experienced the worst collapse in living standards in the developed world under Labor, and they feel it every time they go to pay their mortgage, rents, energy bills, groceries and insurance. Your money simply doesn't go as far as it used to, and that's a direct result of Labor's inability to manage the economy and the federal budget.
Our country needs change. Only the Liberals have a plan that's going to fix the economy and protect our way of life. Our priorities are straightforward: lower taxes, cheaper power, less migration, more housing and putting Australians first.
We have the strong leadership, strong team and strong plan to restore Australians' standard of living and protect your way of life. Under Labor, we are seeing fewer homes built and higher rents. Since Labor's disastrous budget, confidence has been smashed.
If you own a home, it's worth less today; if you pay rent, you're paying more rent today; and, if you're wanting to get into your own home, it's harder than ever and you're no better off. Even Jim Chalmers, a doctor of political spin, can't talk his way out of this one. The Liberals have a real plan to deliver more homes.
We will axe Labor's housing taxes. We will link Australia's migration intake to the number of new homes built. We will establish a $5 billion housing infrastructure fund to unlock up to 400,000 new homes by funding essential last-mile infrastructure such as water, sewerage, power and access roads.
We will simplify the National Construction Code while preserving core safety standards to cut the cost of building a new home by up to $70,000. We will reserve the first home buyer's deposit scheme for Australian citizens. Only the Liberals have a plan to put Australians first and deliver more homes.
The Liberals have a plan to let Australians keep more of what they earn. Our tax-back guarantee will put an end to bracket creep. When you earn more just to keep up with inflation, you end up then being taxed at a higher rate, leaving you worse off.
Instead, we'll index the tax thresholds, providing relief of around $250 in year 1, $500 in year 2 and $750 in year 3. It will then hit $1,000 in year 4 and grow every year by $250 on average. When your wages rise just to keep up with inflation, you're no better off, and you should not pay higher taxes as though you are.
Under this plan, you will be better off. Australia has been blessed with extraordinary natural resources, and they can only be extracted and sold once. High commodity prices deliver a temporary windfall to the budget, but a temporary windfall is not permanent income.
Labor treats windfall revenue from one-time resources as though it will last forever, leaving the country with unfunded permanent spending, higher debt and fewer choices into the future. This is not responsible. Under a Liberal government, 80c of every dollar of windfall resource revenue will be saved into a future generations fund.
We'll use the fund to pay down Labor's trillion dollars of debt and invest in long-lasting, nation-building infrastructure—roads, ports, energy and water. And 25 per cent of funding will be put into the regions that fuel, feed and power our nation. We will table a future generations statement to the parliament each year accounting for every windfall dollar.
Australia is the lucky country, but we should not waste our luck. Only a Liberal government will put Australians first by establishing a future generations fund. Under Labor, as you all know, power prices are far too high.
Bills have skyrocketed by nearly 40 per cent, and nearly a quarter of a million households have been forced onto hardship or payment assistance. The Liberals will deliver cheaper power and energy abundance. We will back any technology that can deliver affordable and reliable power for Australian households and businesses, and we will lift the ban on nuclear power.
We'll end the net zero mandate and scrap Labor's carbon taxes, and we will lower emissions as quickly and responsibly as technology allows, without imposing additional costs on Australian families and Australian industry. When Australia runs out of fuel, our economy grinds to a halt, and our national security is put at risk. That's why we'll double fuel reserves to 60 days and support more than one billion litres of new fuel storage with an Australian fuel security facility.
That's part of the Liberal plan to deliver cheaper power and put Australians first. The Prime Minister's $5,000 annual cap for veterans who require allied health treatment— A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 12:58 to 13:11 Mr VIOLI: Prime Minister Albanese's $5,000 annual cap for veterans who require allied health treatments shows just how out of touch Labor is, and risks veterans missing out on care and support.
They put their own health and safety on the line to protect our country, and there is a clear reason the Department of Veterans' Affairs exists: to help and support our veterans when they return from service. Many return with complex trauma, chronic injuries and illnesses, and the proposed $5,000 annual cap does not stretch far enough for the treatment of these conditions.
Our veterans have served our nation and they shouldn't have to beg for the care and support they need and deserve. Prime Minister Albanese, it's time to scrap the cap. In my community, reliable telecommunications are essential in keeping our community and region connected and safe, and, like so many residents across Australia, I know the heart stopping feeling of not having phone service when you need it most.
I've witnessed the impact of communications going down during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires and again during the June 2021 storms that ravaged my community and the Yarra Ranges. During the evening of that storm event, more than 10,000 requests were made for assistance, and after the first five hours the need for assistance didn't stop—it was residents' ability to call for help that did.
The former Liberal government funded local mobile towers improving our local connectivity. But now Labor has cut the program and we risk going backwards. Under Labor, we're not getting new mobile towers in black spots where we need them most.
We deserve better. We deserve to stay connected and have stronger communications all through our region.