Catherine King
Ballarat · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“NSW Government has been working to develop an engineering solution and a procurement process in parallel. That's not normally how it works, but they've been trying to expedite that as quickly as possible to work out the way forward. There's been a detailed and careful process to do that because we know we can't take shortcuts with this.”
“I thank the member for Calare for his question, and I also acknowledge the member for Macquarie for her advocacy. She's been in my office consistently about this on behalf of the Blue Mountains community.”
“They will then work with my department on a specific funding request, but I spoke to Minister Aitchison on Friday to signal my support for the Commonwealth assisting in what we know is a very significant piece of infrastructure not just for the Blue Mountains but also the member for Calare's community.”
“It's a little bigger than Navigators, with around 350 households, and I was there last week to celebrate beloved local postie Lyn McNight, who has been delivering the mail for 27 years.”
“We're continuing to invest across the country in transport routes from road to rail, whether it be the completion of Metronet or, today, the start of construction of the new Swan electric ferry fleet. The Suburban Rail Loop and North East Link in Melbourne are providing critical links across Melbourne's suburban network.”
“When considering the Ballarat electorate, you might think of the City of Ballarat itself, with its gold rush buildings, its gardens, our lakes, Sovereign Hill and many proud local manufacturers, like McCain, Mars and Haymes Paint, or our cafes and restaurants, which will soon be battling it out again for the annual Ballarat's Best Pie com…”
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“There are many that started on 1 July, and I want to talk about some of those. We've delivered even more support for women. We're increasing the national minimum wage and award wages by 3.5 per cent from 1 July so that women can earn more. We're increasing paid parental leave to 24 weeks; that makes a material difference not just to women but to their families overall. We're making sure super is paid on government paid parental leave. With women holding the majority of student loans, our 20 per cent reduction in HECS debts will also help to lower student debt for women. We're delivering Commonwealth prac payments for women dominated sectors such as nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work. We're also ensuring aged-care nurses, of which the majority are women, will receive their next pay rise in October.”
“Mr Speaker, can I congratulate you again on your elevation to the chair. I thank very much the member for Sturt for the question, with particular congratulations to her on being the first woman to represent the seat of Sturt. I know that you've got your first speech coming up after question time, but I just want to say to you that we are so very proud and privileged to have you here with us. We're making history. We have the first majority female parliament in our history, and you can see, from behind me, that Labor has been doing the lion's share of that work. We also have first majority female cabinet in our history, and that means more women are in the cabinet room making decisions that impact on women. The Albanese Labor government is absolutely committed to delivering for women and representing them. The list of achievements is long.”
“From better pay and a fair deal at work and in education, to tax cuts and cost-of-living relief. All informed by analysis of impact on women and focus on lasting structural improvement. Not an afterthought or a nice-to-have. But as core business of this government. A more equal Australia is a better Australia for everyone of us—it is safer, more productive and means more opportunities and greater flexibility for men and for women. Our government is proud of what we are delivering for women and we will keep going.”
“We are investing in women's sport, with investments in MYEFO 2025-26 to support Football Australia to deliver the Women's Asian Cup 2026, building on our previous investments in the Netball World Cup and in the Play Our Way program, which is providing $200 million in targeted grants for infrastructure and sporting facilities to support women and girls to participate in sports and physical activity. And you could not have a better advocate for women's sport than our Minister for Sport, Minister Wells. Labor's investment in women Our fourth Women's Budget Statement tells a clear story of a government that has deliberately placed gender equality at its centre. It shows that deliberate systematic investment in women over four budgets, big investments in every aspect of life from parental leave to women's health. From child care to aged care.”
“Our investments in women's health are being built on the important work being led through the Women's Health Advisory Council and of course by Assistant Minister Ged Kearney and Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler, who have been determined to sit down and listen to women about their health needs and to ensure women's voices in their health policies. As I said, this has been an all-in effort. I want to particularly acknowledge the Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, whose strong leadership in the area of women and domestic violence has been exemplary. Leadership We continue to invest in women's leadership and representation in this budget. We are investing in business coaching and mentoring for First Nations women.”
“This includes the first Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listing for a new oral contraceptive pill in more than 30 years and the first PBS listing for new menopausal hormone therapies in over 20 years. I know many of the members certainly on this side and I am sure the other side have had women approach them to tell them what a significant change that has made not only to their health but also to their cost of living. It is a really substantial investment. These changes will improve access and provide critical cost-of-living relief by saving women who need this care thousands of dollars across their lifetimes.”
“Our reforms to HELP and other student loans, including limiting indexation and our proposed changes to the repayment system and to reduce student debts, will help with the cost of living, with women holding the majority of student loans. Health Another big focus you are going to hear a lot more about, of course, is health—especially women's health. I again acknowledge the Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing's work on this matter. Women told us about the challenges in receiving health support when their needs and concerns are often ignored or sidelined and when the cost of care is often high. We've listened to women and experts, and we are taking action to address longstanding gaps in our healthcare system. This budget invests $792.9 million over five years to provide women with more choice and control in their own health care.”
“Our investments in this budget are a continuation of our work to advance gender equality since we came to government, with reforms continuing to come into effect—superannuation will be paid on government paid parental leave from July 2025, and it will expand to six months from July 2026. We're expanding parenting payment single to provide more support to single mums. In late 2024 we launched the new Parent Pathways program to support vulnerable parents and their children. We've introduced legislation to make free TAFE permanent. Commonwealth practicum payments will start from mid-2025, supporting 68,000 education students and 5,000 VET students per year—and women are expected to be the vast majority of these students.”
“We've now also passed the Workforce Gender Equality Amendment (Setting Gender Equality Targets) Bill 2024, which will introduce a world-first targets scheme to accelerate action on gender equality by large Australian employers. It will require organisations with 500 or more employees in Australia to commit to achieve—or, at a minimum, make progress toward—measurable targets to progress gender equality in their workplaces. While those opposite opposed this important legislation, these targets will lead to more ambitious commitments and progress, driving workplace gender equality in Australia and helping to close the gender pay gap more quickly.”
“We reformed our industrial relations system with greater protections for women, such as to provide protections for breastfeeding or being a victim-survivor of domestic or family violence. We've made gender equality a central objective of the Fair Work Act. We've increased transparency and reporting on the gender pay gap. We're now in the second year of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency reporting the gender pay gaps of private sector employers with more than 100 workers, providing focus to how—and if—businesses are working to advance equality within their own workplaces. Pay gaps for public sector employees have been published for the first time in the first half of 2025.”
“This complements our $60.6 million Building Women's Careers Program, which works to drive systematic structural and cultural change in training and work environments crucial to the Future Made in Australia agenda. The Future Made in Australia community benefit principles are designed to promote safe and secure jobs and to develop more skilled and inclusive workforces, including for women. These principles are consistent with the government's commitment to address the drivers of workforce gender segregation to ensure that women share in the jobs of the future. We have also made deliberate and careful structural reforms to close gender gaps in the workforce.”
“Women's economic equality Australia has one of the highest rates of workforce gender segregation amongst advanced economies. This impacts on skills shortages in key workforces and contributes to the gender pay gap. We know we need to address this to ensure the success of our Future Made in Australia agenda and the massive investments we are making in infrastructure across the country. We're working to promote greater gender balance and opportunities through our investments in new and emerging industries. This budget includes a new $16.4 million tripartite pilot grants program to help identify new ways to make workplaces safer, more respectful and more equitable for women in traditionally male dominated sectors.”
“We also know that care industries are critical to our community and, of course, to the economy. The budget invests $2.6 billion for aged-care nurses. This builds on the significant investments in wages for the aged-care workforce—another female dominated sector with a historic undervaluation of critical care work. We expect these investments will help both grow these important workforces and, of course, help to close the gender pay gap. Last year, data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency showed that the main driver of the decrease in the gender pay gap in 2023-24 was the increase in wages for lower paid workers—in particular, aged-care residential services, where women make up approximately 80 per cent of the workforce.”
“These investments will make early childhood education and care more affordable and more accessible so that families have more choices and will help address the historic undervaluation of the critical female dominated workforce. This work builds on the significant investments we've of course made since coming to government—including $4.7 billion in our very first budget to support cheaper child care. This effort is having an impact—a family earning $120,000 a year has saved $2,768, while there are 97,000 more children in early childhood education supported by over 40,000 more early childhood educators. We are making these investments because we know Australian kids deserve high-quality early childhood education and Australian families, especially women, rely on access to high-quality care for their children.”
“Under the three-day guarantee, from January 2026, all families will be eligible for at least 72 hours of subsidised early childhood education and care each fortnight for each child regardless of activity levels, with a greater entitlement of 100 subsidised hours for First Nations children. We will also build more early childhood education and care centres and expand services in areas of need, including in the outer suburbs and regional areas through our $1 billion Building Early Education Fund. To support our investments in child care, we are delivering a phased 15 per cent wage increase for eligible early childhood education and care workers over two years from December 2024.”
“We're supporting intervention for men and boys who use violence, and innovative ways of engaging with perpetrators to support them to change their violent behaviours. We haven't just left it to one portfolio to address these issues; we are all in on this. Paid and unpaid care We know that low wages in the female dominated care and support economy drives the gender pay gap. We also know a lack of affordable early childhood education and care is a significant barrier to families working the way that they want. This government is addressing both of these important issues.”
“We're investing in programs that provide direct support to children and young people who have experienced violence and may be at risk of using it as well. Again, we're working on prevention. We're implementing paid domestic violence leave for more than 12.4 million workers—which has now been demonstrated to actually make a significant difference to victims-survivors' lives. We're establishing a new Leaving Violence Program to provide better support to victims-survivors leaving violence. We're delivering consent education and support for young people, including for young men and boys, to support them to have healthy and safe relationships. We're investing in housing for women and children fleeing violence.”
“In this budget, we have further invested to strengthen justice systems' responses to sexual violence, with $21.4 million invested over three years from 2025-26 for immediate, targeted measures to improve victim and survivor engagement with the justice system and to inform a broader response to the ALRC inquiry into justice responses to sexual violence. To further address family, domestic and sexual violence in First Nations communities, the government is providing $21.8 million over two years from 2025-26 to continue the delivery of prevention, early intervention and response services. These reforms build on the actions we've already taken to address domestic, family and sexual violence. Acting to implement all the recommendations of Respect@Work so women are also safer at work has been a significant focus point of the government.”
“We invested $534.5 million to extend the National Partnership Agreement on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Responses to support frontline service delivery and to deliver additional responses to high-risk and serial perpetrators, support for children and young people and support for other initiatives to help break the cycle of violence. In addition, the Commonwealth funded a new $3.9 billion National Access to Justice Partnership with the states and territories, which has a focus on uplifting services that respond to gender based violence and provide culturally safe legal assistance to First Nations people. I acknowledge the Attorney-General's work in that.”
“While it is narrowing, the gender pay gap exists and it is persisting—a reflection of challenges related to care and flexibility, industry gender segregation and women's underrepresentation in senior roles, and discrimination. Women continue to carry the largest share of unpaid work, impacting on their long-term financial security, including into our retirements. And rates of violence against women remain unacceptably high. Since the October 2022 budget, our government has made record investments in women's safety—totalling over $4 billion—to support the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children in 2022-32. In the second half of 2024, the Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches informed immediate actions following help to end the scourge of violence against women and children in this country.”
“In this same period, women's full-time average weekly ordinary time earnings have grown by $217.40 a week, helping women to better deal with cost-of-living pressure and to build their lifelong economic security. And we've reached record highs for women's workforce participation. Alongside Labor's tax cuts, this means women are earning more and getting to keep more of what they earn. The government's workplace relations reforms, improvements to wages, investments in cheaper early childhood education and care, and expansion of the Paid Parental Leave scheme are having an impact. But we, of course, know there is always more to do.”
“Since 2024, the statements have been informed by W orking for w omen : a strategy for gender equality , which is the government's 10-year plan for investing in gender equality across five priority areas: gender based violence; unpaid and paid care; economic equality and security; health; and leadership, representation and decision-making. These areas have been our focus since coming to government, and they continue to guide everything that we do. One year into W orking for women , the government is continuing to take action to improve the lives of women in Australia and we are seeing progress. Under our government, the national gender pay gap has fallen to 11.9 per cent as of November 2024—down from 14.1 per cent in May 2022.”
“Gender responsive government is not just a Labor legacy, it is a Labor innovation—it was the Hawke government that led the world in introducing gender-responsive budgeting back in 1984. Successive coalition governments have dismantled the practice, but under this government, gender-responsive budgeting is absolutely core business—as it should be. I invite those opposite to commit to supporting and continuing to embed gender-responsive budgeting, because it makes a difference. Women's budget statements are a key feature of gender-responsive budgeting. They provide vital analysis and outline the key measures in each and every budget which provide important supports for women, and they, of course, drive gender equality.”
“Gender equality brings with it opportunities for all Australians to thrive, making our economy stronger, more inclusive and, of course, more sustainable. We know that when women have fair opportunities, are treated equally and are safe, we lift our living standards, we boost productivity and we maximise the talent and capacity we need to build Australia's future. Our government has put gender equality at the heart of policy and decision-making, through the introduction of gender-responsive budgeting. Gender-responsive budgeting creates better and fairer outcomes and ensures that all Australians have equal access to the opportunities and resources. I particularly pay tribute to the Minister for Finance and the Treasurer for actually embedding that within our budget development processes. It makes a substantial difference.”
“by leave—I rise to speak on the Women's Budget Statement, tabled as a budget document on Tuesday night, as it has been for every budget delivered by the Albanese Labor government. It is a very proud history that we have of the Women's Budget Statement. The Albanese government is committed to advancing gender equality as a national priority and closing the gender gaps in our community. This has been a priority of this government from day one. We are very committed to making life better for women. We are the first majority female federal government in Australia's history, and we have the first gender-equal cabinet, and every single member of this government is committed to women's equality.”
“Will it be women finally receiving superannuation on their paid parental leave? We know this guy's got form when it comes to cuts. Every single time, the Leader of the Opposition makes cuts, and who will it be who pays? The women of Australia.”
“Our investments have seen real improvements for women, who are earning an average of $217 a week more than they were in May 2022. Women's economic participation has reached record highs, and the gender pay gap is at record lows. But, of course, we know all of that is at risk because of the Leader of the Opposition and what his record has always been. This progress on real action for women is under threat, and who will pay for the cuts that we know are coming? Who is going to pay? Will it be the women who are working hard in aged care and early education, looking after our children and older Australians and finally receiving a fair wage? Will it be the families who are able to access better child care? Will it be the single mothers now accessing better support to raise their children through expanded access to parenting payment single?”
“This work has been led by the first majority-women government in Australia's history, and it shows and makes a difference. It means that we've made significant and substantial investments that directly improve women's lives and support gender equality. We've increased wages in the female dominated industries of aged care and early childhood education. We have delivered cheaper child care. We have included more medicines like contraceptive pills and menopause hormone therapies on the PBS, and I am so proud of our Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care for doing that. But also, for the first time I have heard a Prime Minister in public forums talk about menopause—it is extraordinary for women, really significant and makes a difference for us. We have invested over $4 billion in women's safety, and we've expanded paid parental leave.”
“Can I thank very much the member for Holt for the question. I want to wish her all the very best in the next adventure she's about to have. It was also a real privilege to stand alongside her and the member for Bruce in Clyde North to announce investments in her electorate into important road infrastructure and new housing estates. It was terrific to be there with the Victorians as well. The Albanese Labor government, of course, is not just building physical infrastructure; we are also taking real action to support women and to drive gender equality. Since 2022, we've put gender equality at the centre of decision-making, and, across every single economic update, we have made responsible investments to help shift the dial towards a much fairer Australia.”
“I'll answer that in my own capacity as the minister for infrastructure who is responsible for the agreement that we have between every state and territory on the delivery of infrastructure projects. Be in no doubt: the behaviour that we've seen from the CFMEU is absolutely unacceptable, and this government has taken the strongest possible action to actually deal with it. For 10 years you talked about it, but you didn't actually do anything about it. This government has placed the union in administration, which means—and the reason that some of these issues are now coming to light is because of that—”
“When markets fail or struggle to deliver for regional communities, the government has a role to ensure people don't miss out on opportunities, education and the critical connections that aviation brings. The same is, of course, true in telecommunications as well. We have been absolutely clear that, if there is no second sale, we will look at the contingency options, including preparations necessary for potential Commonwealth acquisition, and work with the states on that. While this side of the House is doing everything it can to protect and support regional Australians, we saw the Liberals and Nationals confirm that they see no role for government in this. In fact, they have actively said that they will oppose it.”
“I thank the member for Gilmore for the question. I know she is a fantastic supporter of regional aviation and a great supporter of the announcement we made this week about investments in her electorate at Moruya Airport, which she advocated for. The Albanese Labor government is building Australia's future by working to ensure the future of critical aviation services in our regions. We believe that Australians living in regional and remote communities deserve access to air travel that is affordable and reliable. Yesterday we announced the government will support short-listed bidders to maximise a successful sale of Rex Airlines to ensure crucial regional aviation services continue beyond 30 June. We've been clear the Commonwealth is not a bidder in this process but we want to see a successful market-led outcome.”
“They have no plan to secure regional aviation, and, in fact, they believe government involvement is a bridge too far but $600 billion of publicly owned, taxpayer-funded nuclear reactors is not a bridge too far. You can see the absolute contrast when it comes to supporting regional aviation and supporting regional communities in what we just saw with a joke of a question from the member for Deakin.”
“Today's announcement has been welcomed by the Australian Local Government Association, the Australian Airports Association and the Australian Travel Industry Association. But I know who's not welcomed it, which is very surprising: those members of the Liberal and National parties opposite. We saw the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, the member for Farrer—who has Rex Airlines flying in there—tell Sky News that she does not support the government's intervention or assistance. The Liberals and the Nationals have made clear they would rather see the largest regional airlines in Australia fail, individual routes flogged off and regional Australians absolutely abandoned.”
“We have been clear that the Commonwealth is not a bidder in this second sales process and we want to see a successful, market led outcome. This is a strong signal to the market that we are willing to work with them to land a deal. But we have also been clear that, if there is no sale, we will look at contingency options, including preparations necessary for potential Commonwealth acquisition. When markets fail or struggle to deliver for regional communities, the government absolutely has a role to ensure that people do not miss out on opportunities, education and critical connections. The same is true of telecommunications as well. We're recognising that today and stepping in to keep these routes flying.”
“I think you just saw the incredible contrast just then with the member for Bendigo, who is serious about regional aviation and knows the economic importance of it to the regions, and the joke of a question that was just asked by those opposite and the deputy opposition leader giggling away about the whole thing in terms of regional aviation. The Albanese Labor government believes that regional and remote communities deserve reliable, affordable and accessible air travel. It is why we are taking steps to ensure that communities outside capital cities aren't just short-changed. Today we announced that the government will support shortlisted bidders in a second sale process for Rex Airlines to maximise the prospect of a successful sale and to ensure that crucial regional aviation services continue beyond 30 June 2025.”
“These are very common conditions, and I know this will have a material impact on the way in which women can access care. This is a package that recognises that women bear a higher cost. But what we know from those opposite is that all of this is at risk. The Leader of the Opposition has form when it comes to cuts to health care. I was the shadow health minister when he tried to introduce a GP tax—something we be fought very hard against. All of these investments are at risk under those opposite. (Time expired)”
“We'll also boost Medicare rebates for the insertion of IUDs and birth-control implants by up to 150 per cent, saving up to $400 in out-of-pocket costs for women accessing these devices—and that's around 300,000 women. We'll also introduce a new Medicare rebate of around $110 for menopause health assessments so that women can get the care and support they need from their family GP. We're also going to be trialling accessing contraceptives, and treatment for uncomplicated UTIs—which are very common amongst women, but not just women—directly from pharmacists. This means that women can get the treatment they need quickly but without the added cost of a doctor's visit or in some cases having to go to emergency departments because GP clinics are simply not open.”
“We've announced a comprehensive package—half a billion dollars—that works together to give women more choices across their lifetime. Some of the most commonly used contraceptive pills are being listed on the PBS. They will save women who use them between $250 and $350 a year. The PBS listing of common menopause hormone therapies will save women using these treatments up to $290, or year or up to $577 a year if you have a concession card. These new PBS listings—the first new oral contraceptive to be listed in 30 years and the first new menopausal hormone therapies to be listed in 20 years—will take effect from 1 March, in just three weeks time.”
“I thank the member for Canberra for her question. It's an enormous privilege to be a part of a caucus that has been delivering for women, and I acknowledge the member for Canberra's role in that. I, as the Minister representing the Minister for Women, particularly want to thank both her as well as the fantastic Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care. This package would not have happened without her and her incredibly hard work. This government is building Australia's future. We are strengthening Medicare with an investment of more than half a billion dollars to deliver more choice, lower costs and better health care for women. Women have asked the government to make their health care a priority, and we have listened.”
“Again, the community is stepping up, and, importantly, men are stepping up as part of that. We all need to see change across our communities, and, in mine, that has been incredibly important and felt very deeply by the deaths of Samantha, Rebecca and Hannah. We want a community that is safe for everybody, particularly women. Everywhere, in every community and in every place, we need to stop seeing violence against women and to stop losing women like beautiful Samantha Murphy, who still had so much to give. In this, the anniversary week of her loss and leading into the anniversaries of the deaths of Rebecca and Hannah, my thoughts and my condolences continue to go out to their families. The legacy of their deaths is that we do so much better to keep women safe in our communities. Question agreed to. Federation Chamber adjourned at 12:22”
“Since February last year when Samantha went missing, 19 organisations have joined, 13 of which were from Ballarat including a number of schools, and this significant increase has been driven by students themselves. There has also been a notable increase in inquiries from organisations and individuals, particularly men, interested in CoRE and what they can do to prevent gender based violence. Men's Initiative information sessions saw a massive increase in registrations, and, in December, Women's Health Grampians and the City of Ballarat held a leadership forum for men interested in learning more about how they can lead change to prevent gender based violence in the organisations they're part of. At that event, 188 people attended, of whom 60 per cent were men. These are all positive signs of the change that we want.”
“Ballarat resident Pauline O'Shannessy-Dowling has told the ABC that when she is out running, which was what Samantha was doing, men who are also running are making the effort to let her know that they are not a threat. Last year we saw at the first Ballarat Marathon a concerted effort of dads running with their daughters. They really wanted to come together as a community to show how much they care about their girls. There are signs of a much bigger change under way in our community. A partnership of organisations, businesses, clubs and groups led by Women's Health Grampians called the Communities of Respect and Equality, CoRE, alliance shares a vision for safe, equal and respectful communities. The CoRE alliance usually has between one and five new organisations join as members each year.”
“Women shouldn't have to worry that being out by themselves at night or in the early morning or even being behind closed doors in their own home puts them at risk. I wrote in an op-ed last April that how we educate our boys in this community matters and that their opportunities to learn how to be the fabulous, beautiful men we all know in some aspects of our lives actually matter. Governments have a role to play, too, with campaigns, early intervention services and a national plan from all levels of government as well as legislated paid family and domestic violence leave, better access to child care and early education. There are, of course, small signs of change.”
“It has been the saddest of years for the family and friends of Samantha Murphy—an unfathomable loss of a wife, mother and friend. We continue to hold them close in our thoughts and to support them. Amid the shock and sadness we all feel, the community has stepped up in a way that shows the best of us in dealing with the worst possible news—and not just once: the community has also stepped up following the deaths of Rebecca Young and Hannah McGuire, which also happened during the last 12 difficult months. Grief can be a long path to walk. Having the support of people around you actually helps. As I've said before, we, the community, have another task as well: making the world we live in a safer place for women. Simply living your life shouldn't put you in danger.”
“No matter what way you'll look at it, you'll be worse off under those opposite if this bloke has his way, and that includes when it comes to the significant investments this government has made in infrastructure funding.”
“But much of this investment is, of course, at risk if those opposite have their way, because their maths simply just does not add up. You can't, on the one hand, say that you'll be making $350 billion worth of cuts without, on the other hand, cutting funding to projects like the Bruce Highway. And you can't fund $600 billion worth of publicly owned nuclear reactors without cutting road and rail infrastructure spending. And you can't forgo $1.6 billion to $10 billion a year in taxpayer-funded long lunches without substantially cutting infrastructure spending. The Leader of the Opposition, of course, let the cat out of the bag on Sunday when he confirmed that he would be making huge cuts if he were to get his way. But what we do know is that he's refusing to tell anybody before the election what those cuts are going to be.”
“It's been highlighted this week with the floods up in the north. I want to assure the House that the Albanese government is working closely with the Queensland government to ensure that we get that freight route up as soon as possible and that we have a long-term, resilient solution for that stretch of road, and we've seen the Prime Minister is there today. The significant increases in infrastructure investment that this government has made are all possible because of the hard work that we have done—work to drive down inflation, to increase wages and to keep unemployment low but also to ensure that we get the economy moving after a decade, frankly, of neglect when it came to infrastructure. We've worked to drive inflation down and increase wages, and all of that has been important for the economy.”
“I thank the member for Blair for that question. He is a magnificent advocate for the people of Ipswich. Whether it's road funding or community infrastructure funding, he is the best representative the people of Blair could have. Earlier in the year, I was very proud to be able to stand alongside the Prime Minister and the Treasurer in Gympie to announce the single largest investment ever, by any government, into the Bruce Highway: an additional $7.2 billion to bring the entire length of the highway up to a three-star safety rating. This is historic funding that will fast-track critical projects along the entire length of the corridor, particularly concentrating on the worst areas first. Of course, we've seen this week the incredible importance of the Bruce Highway when it comes to the national supply chain.”