PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Ms KARA COOK (Bonner) (12:41): Wasn't that contribution from the member for Moncrieff interesting, with the opening statement quoting Josh Frydenberg. It sounds like the comeback might be imminent. Whilst they are fighting amongst themselves about who's the leader or how far to the right they're going or who they are or aren't in coalition with, we will get on with the job of making sure that lives are better for every single Australian in this country.
On the weekend, we weren't fighting amongst ourselves and debating each other; we were out doorknocking in my community of Bonner and in the suburb of Tingalpa with local volunteers for our housing day of action. We spoke with people about the cost of living, finding a home, the challenge of saving a deposit and the pressures that people in my community are facing.
Those conversations are always a timely reminder that the cost of living is about the choices people are having to make each and every week—what they can afford at the supermarket, whether they can pay a bill on time and how they balance work, care and the cost of raising a family. In Bonner, I hear those concerns from people every day. People are working hard and doing their best, but many are still feeling the squeeze.
It is the job of government to listen, to take responsibility and to act. That means managing public money carefully, making savings where we can and directing support towards the pressures that people are facing—and that is exactly what the Albanese Labor government is doing. Responsible management matters.
The final budget outcome for the 2025-26 financial year recorded a deficit, yes, of $22.3 billion, but that was $6 billion lower than forecast in the budget. That doesn't mean the job is done, but it shows we can work to improve the budget position while continuing to support households and invest in the services that people rely on. We have made savings and reprioritised spending in every budget update.
We have had to make some difficult choices, including slowing the growth in some areas of spending while protecting essential services and directing support to priorities like Medicare, housing and families. Fiscal responsibility is not an end in itself; it must help us build on the economy that works for people and give us the capacity to act on the pressures they face.
That is why we are cutting taxes for workers, paying higher wages for some of the lowest-earning people in our country and helping Australian families manage the cost of things like child care. Our new tax measures include a permanent offset of up to $250 for workers and a $1,000 instant tax deduction. This builds on the tax cuts already delivered.
As the full package takes effect, an average earner will receive over $2,800 a year in tax relief by 2028. That is money people can put towards things like their groceries, bills, transport and school costs. We are backing higher wages for nearly three million of Australia's lowest-paid workers because Labor values the work they do in critical industries like aged care and child care.
We are helping get people into a home of their own. We know that, with the five per cent deposits, over 500 people in my local community of Bonner have already taken up that offer and are already in their first home, and we want to see more coming through that scheme. For the people I met on the weekend in Tingalpa, the challenge is not a lack of hard work; it is getting a foot in the door when rents are high and saving a deposit feels out of reach.
That is why practical help, with things like five per cent deposits, matter. We are making essential health care more affordable. People in Bonner have saved more than $19 million on PBS medicines across more than 2.7 million scripts.
That's on top of our $25 scripts. We've doubled the number of bulk-billing clinics. We have not one but two Medicare urgent care clinics in my community, at Carina-Carindale and also at Capalaba.
Already over 20,000 people have been through the doors of those services. Those services matter because, when you get sick, you need to be able to access health care when you need it most outside of hours, on the weekends when the kids are at sport, for free and fully funded by Medicare. People deserve more than an acknowledgement that times are tough.
They deserve a government that takes responsibility, manages the budget carefully and delivers practical help that they can use. That is exactly what this Albanese Labor government is delivering, and it is exactly what we will continue to do each and every day we have the privilege of governing this country.