CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Ms WATSON-BROWN (Ryan) (10:30): If I said, 'Let's sell off all of our public schools and have them all run for profit,' I'd rightly be called a nutter. If I said, 'Let's flog off all our public hospitals and let the private market sort out who gets health care,' people would be up in arms—rightly so. Public ownership of essentials is just common sense.

It's downright Australian. It's one of the things our country can take pride in. So, why are our politicians so allergic to public ownership of other essentials?

Why did they sell off our energy? Why did they sell off our telecommunications? Why did they sell off our banks, our rail and our airports?

We get worse service at a higher cost while big corporations just make more money. Why, for that matter, is our supermarket system run by a giant private duopoly making record profits at everyday people's expense? Zohran Mamdani has proven that a public grocery store can compete with big corporations and reduce grocery bills significantly.

I'm not saying that everything should be public. Obviously, a healthy private sector is also important, including small businesses. I am saying that, if we accept what our politicians tell us is possible, we're allowing ourselves to be taken for fools.

Don't let politicians make you think you're missing something; you're not. Some things are as simple and as obvious as you think. Yes, gas corporations are ripping us all off, making billions and not paying tax.

Yes, they donate millions to the major parties' election campaigns. Yes, they have a huge lobbyist network staffed with former major party staff. Yes, you could fix so many problems with the $17 billion we would raise from taxing these big gas corporations.

You could put dental into Medicare for $16.8 billion. You could deliver universal free child care for $10 billion. You could give every household more than $1,000 in energy rebates every year.

Or, with that $17 billion, you could build around 34,000 well-designed public homes a year—more than 10 times our current build. Look, some things are difficult; not every problem is easily solved. Politics can be tricky.

But some things are actually very, very simple. Taxing gas is one of those things. Don't let people in this place convince you that you don't understand.