House of Representatives — 29 June 2026

The House of Representatives sat on 29 June 2026 in a day dominated by the government's pre-1 July cost-of-living agenda, a substantial legislative program completing major aviation and online safety bills, and sustained opposition pressure on tax policy — particularly a contested budget measure critics labelled the "widow tax."

**Question Time: cost-of-living and the tax fight**

The sharpest exchange of the day opened Question Time, when Opposition Leader Angus Taylor pressed Prime Minister Albanese on how much extra tax would be paid by widows, divorcees and domestic-violence victims as a result of the Treasurer's budget measures [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s200]. Albanese rejected the premise, arguing none of those groups would be affected [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s218 TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s220].

The exchange set the tone for a day in which the tax and housing policy contest ran through every segment. Treasurer Jim Chalmers used Question Time to enumerate cost-of-living measures taking effect on 1 July: a 6 percent minimum-wage rise, a 4.75 percent award-wage increase, superannuation paid with wages, fuel-excise relief and paid parental leave extended to six months [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s225].

Minister for Employment Amanda Rishworth confirmed the same wage figures and noted the average weekly minimum wage would exceed $1,000. Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek announced the parental leave rate would be over $1,000 per week from 1 July.

Minister for Housing Clare O'Neil defended legislation she said provides a tax cut for all workers, levels the playing field for first-home buyers and is projected to slow house-price growth by about two percentage points. Opposition members pressed her repeatedly for the number of first-home buyers now in negative equity; she said she could not provide a specific figure [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s210 TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s214].

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino announced supermarket price-gouging legislation effective 1 July, imposing fines of up to $10 million, three times the benefit derived, or 10 percent of annual turnover [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s231]. Minister for Health Mark Butler listed ten new PBS medicines available from 1 July, including the asthma treatment Tezspire.

On digital safety, Minister for Communications Anika Wells reported that more than five million under-16 social-media accounts have been deactivated since the ban was introduced [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s223], and announced a bill to double the maximum eSafety penalty to $99 million and expand the commissioner's investigative powers. Independent MP Kate Chaney urged the government to future-proof its digital duty-of-care framework against AI-driven psychosocial harms.

Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy announced the "Nakamal" bilateral agreement with Vanuatu covering security, development, climate resilience and water-resource management [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s219].

**Bills: aviation reform passes, eSafety enforcement strengthened**

The day's most consequential legislative outcome was the third-reading passage of the Aviation Consumer Protection Bill 2026 and its three companion bills on consequential amendments, levy imposition and levy collection. The package creates an Aviation Consumer Protections Charter, an independent Aviation Consumer Ombudsperson, an Aircraft Noise Ombudsperson and an Aviation Consumer Protection Authority.

Government speakers described it as the most significant aviation consumer reform in a decade, linking it to the 2024 aviation white paper and the Brisbane 2032 Olympics. Members noted that Qantas and Virgin together control 98.5 percent of the domestic market, and that more than half of travellers experience disruptions while only about a third are satisfied with how airlines handle them [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s075].

National Party member Anne Webster argued the bills fail regional Australians and add bureaucracy; Greens MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown supported them as a step forward but warned they fall short of EU standards on monetary compensation.

Minister Wells also moved the second reading of the Online Safety Amendment (Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age) Bill, noting the eSafety Commissioner is investigating non-compliance by five major platforms [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s065]. The bill doubles the maximum civil penalty to 60,000 penalty units (approximately $99 million) and gives the commissioner stronger information-gathering powers.

The government framed Australia as a global leader prompting similar legislation in more than twenty other countries.

The Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026 was debated, proposing to create a statutory framework for Commonwealth primary-care incentive programs and rename the Health Insurance Act 1973 as the Medicare Act 1973. Labor MP Jo Briskey cited an $8.5 billion Medicare investment and a national bulk-billing rate of 81.9 percent, with more than 3,800 practices serving 97 percent of Australians within a 20-minute drive [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s086].

National Party MP Anne Webster countered that bulk-billing fell from 89 percent in 2020-21 to 79 percent in 2025 and out-of-pocket costs have risen to around $50 per GP visit.

Independent MPs Monique Ryan and Zali Steggall moved the second reading of the Higher Education Support Amendment (Fix HECS) Bill 2026, arguing that indexing repayments before applying them to the debt costs graduates an estimated $3.2 billion over ten years. The Parliamentary Budget Office costed the reform — moving the indexation date from 1 June to 1 November — at less than $400 million to the budget.

Independent MPs Dai Le and Andrew Gee moved the Local Industry Preference Bill, pressing the government to embed a 30 percent local-content preference in Commonwealth procurement from the $22.7 billion "Future Made in Australia" budget commitment. Coalition members debated the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sex-based Rights) Bill 2026, arguing the 2013 Labor amendment removed biological definitions of "man" and "woman" and that the bill restores them alongside explicit protections for women-only spaces, services and online activities.

**Private Members' Business: the "widow tax," housing, aged care and nuclear testing**

Private members' business was the day's most expansive segment, with sharp clashes on tax, health and social policy. Liberal MP Simon Kennedy moved a motion condemning the government for "sneaky and dishonest tactics" in imposing higher taxes; Opposition Chief Whip Cameron Caldwell warned the budget adds more than $77 billion in new taxes and has kept inflation averaging 4.1 percent [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s010].

Labor members highlighted a $250 working Australian tax offset and a $1,000 standard deduction benefiting over 13 million workers, a permanent $20,000 instant asset write-off and expanded small-business CGT concessions.

The 137 Medicare urgent-care clinics attracted sustained debate. Labor cited 3.2 million presentations and full bulk-billing; the Opposition described the rollout as "clinic confetti" favouring Labor-held seats and questioned geographic equity, with regional electorates over an hour from the nearest site. The aged-care debate centred on the Support at Home program, with opposition speakers condemning algorithmic flaws in the Integrated Assessment Tool; government speakers cited 83,000 new in-home places, free personal-care services and $45 billion slated for aged care.

Independent Sophie Scamps moved a motion for a mandatory national extended producer responsibility scheme for plastics, drawing support across the crossbench and from some National Party members on regional manufacturing grounds.

The paid parental leave expansion to 26 weeks from 1 July — with a weekly rate of $1,004.70 and superannuation contributions — was commended in multiple motions; Liberal MP Aaron Violi warned the benefit would be eroded without controlling inflation.

The day closed with a bipartisan motion on the 80th anniversary of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific. Labor MP Susan Templeman moved the motion listing health, cultural and environmental harms from US, French and British tests between 1946 and 1996 [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s182]. Deputy Speaker Helen Haines urged Australia to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; Government Whip Joanne Ryan reaffirmed Labor's support for the Non-Proliferation Treaty and disarmament.

The debate drew bipartisan agreement that testing-legacy sites require remediation and that stronger regional cooperation is needed.

**Committee reports and procedural matters**

The Standing Committee on Education tabled a report warning that Bahasa Indonesia enrolments fell from over 1,100 in 2010 to 486 in 2022 and project functional extinction by 2031, framing Asia-language capability as a national security concern. The Standing Committee on Economics presented its payments inquiry report, identifying $2 billion in scheme fees, a Mastercard-Visa duopoly and Apple's control of NFC technology; it recommended Australian law require Apple to open its NFC and secure-element technology to competitors, citing EU precedent.

The Public Works Committee recommended $17 million in demolition costs for the decommissioned National Research Cyclotron Facility due to radioactive contamination. The Speaker also tabled Auditor-General reports on AI use in IP Australia and the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program [TA-260629-house-2aa448864ab1:s063]. The petitions committee reported 1,157 petitions attracting 713,852 signatures this year, with proposals to reform the e-petition system's language standards and digital integrity.

The House adjourned at 20:00.