Anthony Albanese
Grayndler · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“The ground there at Brookvale Oval, as I call it, was of course sponsored by a gambling company, so every time there's a game on there you see that constant advertising around the ground. What our legislation will do is make sure that future contracts can't be issued with things such as advertising on jerseys or advertising on grounds.”
“She's someone who's passionate about it and tells me about her constituent who is 108 years old and travelled, as a very young boy, from South Australia with family for the opening of the first parliament—and he's still there. We hope he's able to attend again.”
“That is why, just this week, there was the increase in the minimum wage, the decrease in taxes, the support for paid parental leave, super being paid every payday. All of these changes make a positive difference to people's lives.”
“This year, Australia is celebrating 125 years of Federation, and I was with you and other members in Melbourne to commemorate that event of the first sitting of parliament, and it was a very good celebration of our history, which is worthy of celebration.”
“We Australians sometimes think of ourselves as a young nation on an ancient continent, yet by global standards, of course, we are one of the oldest and strongest democracies in the world. Next year will mark an important anniversary: the 100th anniversary of Australian democracy making its home here in Canberra, our national capital.”
“I note the member for McPherson, who's a former attendant in Parliament House, has agreed to be one of the members of that committee as well, and that's a good thing.”
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“That was the platform on which you were elected, and I hope you were honest enough to say to Leigh, 'I'm sorry that you were going to get higher taxes if we were in government.' For Leigh, particularly if he's a low- or middle-income earner like it sounds like he was, I hope you also said that, during the last term of parliament, the coalition as it was then, before it broke into bits, was in a position where they wanted to oppose and roll back the tax cuts that we took from the top end to the low- and middle-income end to make sure that we supported them. The fact is that, when it comes to the economy, we have an economy that is continuing to grow. Inflation is down compared with what we inherited. Wages are up.”
“I thank the member for his question. I am always sympathetic and good to hear from our constituents in whatever electorate. I say to Leigh that we understand as a government that many people are under financial pressure, which is why, for Leigh, I hope that you inform him that he would have had, had you been on this side of the House—although you might have been in bits if you were over here—a higher deficit and more pressure on the budget than what has occurred. You stood for election as part of a team that would have had higher deficits and also would have had not only no tax cuts but tax increases.”
“I thank the member for Curtin for her question and for her engagement in the parliamentary processes. The member for Curtin brings due diligence to her local representation but also participates in the broader questions that come before this parliament. My government is characterised by orderly decision-making—”
“That is after they were going to slash essential services, get rid of more than 40,000 public servants and not just not have the income taxes that we are going to reduce but legislate to increase income taxes for every single taxpayer. That is what they had to say! They're the facts. They don't like it, but they are the facts as we go forward. We're happy to have a debate with them about the facts, because those opposite are just focused on disagreeing with each other. (Time expired)”
“Last September, S&P said: Sound fiscal metrics support our 'AAA' long-term sovereign credit rating on Australia. Australia's fiscal performance is sound. Fitch said: Fitch Affirms Australia at 'AAA'; Outlook Stable. The Parliamentary Budget Office found—at election time in 2025, less than a year ago—that our platform would improve the budget over the medium term, and they concluded that those opposite had a platform that equalled higher taxes, bigger deficits and more debt. That's just a fact. All up, the coalition would have increased deficits by $135 billion over the coming decade and added $147 billion to government debt.”
“I'm asked about government spending. We're the first government in almost two decades to deliver back-to-back budget surpluses. We've returned over 70 per cent of all tax receipt upgrades to the bottom line, compared with our predecessors, who returned about 40 per cent. Debt in 2024-25 was $188 billion lower than what was forecast in their budget in 2022, handed down by Josh Frydenberg. This has saved the nation around $60 billion in interest costs. Under this government, average real annual spending growth is 1.7 per cent over the seven years to 2028-29. This is around half of the 30-year average of 3.2 per cent, and it's less than half of what it was under the former coalition government of 4.1 per cent. The ratings agencies have all reaffirmed Australia's AAA credit rating.”
“This is a sensible way forward, and I thank the Minister for Defence and Assistant Minister Khalil for the extraordinary amount of work that has gone into this. This is a sensible reform going forward.”
“The Commonwealth will sell 64 Defence estate sites across the nation and invest all proceeds back into defence, supporting our Defence Force personnel, making sure that our Defence estate is fit for purpose but also creating opportunities for urban development for green spaces and housing in our cities. It is about making sure the men and women who keep us safe can do just that. This is a win-win-win. It is a win for the nation's defence. It is a win for opportunities when it comes to housing. But it's also a win for ensuring that economic efficiency comes through, that we don't have estates just sitting there, costing money to be maintained, serving no purpose in either being used by our Defence Force personnel or in defending our nation.”
“Defence owns a significant estate that is simply not being used at all or, in some cases, is just underused. Big buildings on big plots of land are sitting half empty seven days a week, and Defence has a full-time job maintaining them. From a personnel and also an assets perspective, that simply doesn't make sense, and it's not an efficient use of that land either. Many barracks and buildings sit on land that was gazetted for use well before Federation, and they serve a purpose more fitting for that time, frankly, than they do for today. So we are taking action to maximise our defence capability.”
“I thank the member for Hasluck for both her service and the question. The government will always support the men and women who proudly wear our uniform to keep Australians safe, investing in our capability and investing in our relationships. On Friday, I will be in Jakarta seeing that through, signing a landmark security agreement with Indonesia. But we also need to support defence forces at home, making sure that every single dollar that's spent makes a difference to defending our nation, builds on our record defence funding and focuses our capacity where it's needed. Now, we commissioned an independent review into our Defence estate to investigate how to do just that. It's clear that there are significant opportunities to do things a better way.”
“And we'll keep focusing on easing cost-of-living pressures; on making medicines cheaper, which we did on 1 January; investing in more bulk-billing and urgent care clinics, which we are doing; cutting student debt by 20 per cent—opposed by those opposite—paid prac; $10,000 incentives for people to do apprenticeships in construction or in energy; and, of course, free TAFE, which has now had more than 700,000 people participate in it. It's why we support real wage rises. That's why we supported a tax cut last year and why, on 1 July, there will be another tax cut, and, next year, there'll be another one after that. I note before—”
“This is what the RBA governor said yesterday when she was asked very directly about government spending. She said, 'What's happened in the last six months or so is private demand has turned out to be much stronger than we have been forecasting.' That's what the RBA governor had to say very clearly. We know that Australians are still doing it tough, and we know that cost-of-living pressures are real, but that's why we have measures to actually address cost-of-living pressures to take pressure off family budgets in every way that we can.”
“I inform the House that the Minister for Social Services is representing myself at the state funeral service of Professor the Hon. Dame Marie Bashir and will be absent from question time today. I know that, particularly for people from New South Wales, Marie Bashir was an absolutely extraordinary human being and a great governor of New South Wales, and she will be missed by so many people who had contact with her. She was remarkable. The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations will answer questions on the minister's behalf. I also inform the House that the Minister for Communications and Minister for Sport will be absent from question time today and tomorrow. The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government will answer questions on her behalf.”
“We know that there's more work to do, and we'll continue to work each and every day. But this legislation, implemented by Labor—nothing done over the previous 40 years—is an important step forward, and I commend the bill to the House.”
“As I said, when we looked at the pressures that people are under, we understood. Whether it was the commitment to raising wages or cutting taxes or cheaper child care or cheaper medicines or Urgent Care Clinics or the energy bill relief or the home batteries to reduce permanently people's bills or cutting student debt, my government has focused each and every day on the big measures down to the small ones such as this one, but they all make a difference, because they also make it clear that my government will be continuing to be focused on cost-of-living measures as our first, second and third priorities as we go forward, as we have done given the bin fire that we inherited in 2022, when inflation had a six in front of it and the deficits were huge. We have turned that around.”
“These social organisations were looking after people in times of need and that's why they are deserving of support, because we rely upon them at times of need. And they don't have to be asked to do it; it's just what they do. Overwhelmingly, they're family businesses. They're run by people putting in long hours every day. They also employ locals. For so many people, whether they be full-time or, importantly, part-time workers, it's a way for people to get through their university days or to just work part-time when they're raising a family. This is an important measure. It is good for our economy, good for our jobs, good for our local communities as well, and that's why, from the front bar to the beer garden, when you raise a glass, you can do so knowing that our government won't be raising the price for over two years.”
“Quite often, when you're there, particularly on a Friday afternoon or over a weekend, they're running raffles to raise money for surf lifesaving or running raffles for the people who are suffering. During hard times or natural disasters, for example, they are the places that really kick in. I'm reminded by the presence in the chamber of the Minister for Emergency Management. Before she was in this place she was a local mayor during those extraordinary disasters that happened throughout Australia, but particularly on the South Coast of New South Wales in her electorate of Eden-Monaro. I well remember going to clubs there where people were staying, literally, in emergency accommodation on the floor.”
“From time to time, there's a particular seat at the Courthouse Hotel at Newtown, at many of the pubs around the Vic on the Park or the Henson Park, that you know not to sit on because that's Daryl's seat or that's Ben's seat. That's the way it's always been, and that is the case right around Australia. I remember being on a visit with the member for Kennedy up at Hughenden and I made what he told me was almost a fatal error of sitting in the wrong seat at a pub. The seven-foot giant who walked in and declared that it was indeed his seat meant that it had been good advice on that occasion from the member for Kennedy. This is a place that is so important and that's why these measures, which are small measures, are important. They are about respect for the work that our publicans and our club executives do on a day-to-day basis.”
“Importantly, I am not aware of a single social issue that has arisen at any of those breweries. People engage collectively. They engage in a really positive way. Can I also say that the many pubs, sporting clubs and RSLs around all our electorates are the heart of our communities. They're the organisations that will sponsor the local rugby league or netball or cricket clubs. They are important at a time where more and more we see social isolation being a feature of our society, as families become smaller, as communities become less connected and as more and more interaction is online rather than in person. The capacity of people to gather at their local pub, club, RSL or local leagues club is so important because there's that sense of belonging. I know that is the case in many of the pubs in my electorate.”
“Forty years is a long time between drinks, but it is just one of the rounds of cost-of-living measures that our government has taken. As local MPs we're all a bit biased, but I happen to think that the best small breweries in Australia are in my electorate in Grayndler, in the Inner West—and there is a fair bit of evidence. We have the Inner West Ale Trail. We not only have breweries—16 at last count, in a small area where you can walk from brewery to brewery, in the Inner West; another industry has grown up, of the food trucks and food small businesses establishing themselves outside those breweries. But there's another one as well—the tourism trail. People can book, and they go in a bus from brewery to brewery, sampling the wonderful produce that is produced there in my electorate in the Inner West.”
“I'm very proud to speak on this legislation, the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the associated bill, because this is one of the most popular commitments that we took to the election on 3 May—a two-year freeze on the draft beer excise, the first time this has happened in 40 years. I note the amendments moved by some on the other side. I'm not quite sure what side the member for New England is on these days; he was deputy prime minister not once but, believe it or not, in the sequel that no-one asked for, twice. Did anything happen on his watch? No. It took a Labor government to freeze the beer excise, making sure this was part of our cost-of-living measures we implemented—not just talking about cost-of-living pressures but doing something about them.”
“I move: That leave of absence for the remainder of the current period of sittings be given to Mr Neumann. I spoke with the member for Blair yesterday. On behalf of all members, we wish him, as he deals with the illness of his beloved wife, Carolyn, all the very best for this period. I have said to him that this is his correct priority. He's continuing to serve his electorate, but it's important that he not travel at this time, and I'm sure that will be respected. Question agreed to.”
“In a turbulent world, we have a crucial role as a middle power, bringing nations together, advocating for our shared interests, and building a region and a world where sovereignty is respected and where the economic potential of our nation and our region is fulfilled. We are always working in the national interest to make a positive difference in the lives that we serve and to represent the Australian people. I look forward to visiting Indonesia later this week, and I thank very much President Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Gusmao for the very warm reception. They are both very good and dear friends of Australia. On that note, Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper .”
“Together we signed, with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, a parseria, a new partnership for a new era, an updated security agreement focused on cooperation. This is a relationship between equal partners based on mutual respect. I thank Timor-Leste for the honour that I was given while I was there, which I received on behalf of Australia as well. My visit to Indonesia on Thursday will also be an important step in engaging in our region. These relationships are so important for Australia. The new alliance with Papua New Guinea, the treaty that we will sign with President Prabowo on Friday in Indonesia, the parseria with Timor-Leste—these upgraded relationships in our region are critical.”
“When Australian troops were there, fighting for the defence of our nation in our darkest hour, the people of East Timor provided extraordinary support. Fifty thousand lives were lost as a direct result of the fact that the Timorese were there, side-by-side with Australian diggers. Many Australians were captured and imprisoned by the Japanese during that struggle, including my mentor, Tom Uren. After the 1999 independence referendum, and again in 2006, Australia stepped up to secure peace and democracy in Timor-Leste. Our historic bonds are important, and now we look towards our nations' shared future. We proudly supported Timor-Leste's ascension to ASEAN last year, the 11th nation to be given full membership.”
“I thank the member for Solomon for his question. Of course, he served in Timor-Leste with the Australian Defence Force and has an important relationship with the people of East Timor, including its leaders. One of the things that strikes you very clearly when you visit Timor-Leste is the respect that members of the Australian Defence Force and others who've provided support for the people over a period of time for their struggle of independence and since then are held in. Last week was the first time I visited as Prime Minister, and there was a very warm reception from President Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Gusmao. I was honoured to address the national parliament. We spoke of our shared history but also our shared future—the deep bond between our two nations. Of course, that bond was forged during World War II.”
“I think we need a broader conversation as a society as well about the impact of polarisation and about the impact, as I've said, of social media pushing people towards more and more extremes down these rabbit holes, and the fact that it's, well, clickbait. Well, there's two seconds to go.”
“We brought forward the legislation before the parliament, and it is a fact that there was a considerable advance through legislation not just on guns but on hate speech. It didn't go as far as the envoy on antisemitism's report recommended, but, nonetheless, it was a significant advance forward. I thank all those who voted for that legislation in both the House and the Senate. We'll continue to engage across the board on these issues. The member refers to extremism and to issues breaking down social cohesion. We have had incidents as well of so-called sovereign citizens being involved in the murder of police officers in Victoria and Queensland. There is a range of threats that are very real, including, of course, a number of incidents that have been publicised before the court involving myself and members of parliament.”
“I thank the member for Bradfield for her question. Indeed, we do need to deal with a comprehensive response not just to antisemitism but also to building social cohesion. I think the attack that we saw in Perth is an example of something that the authorities are dealing with. I'll be meeting with the WA commissioner, who was in the chamber earlier today, along with the AFP commissioner to be briefed on that at a later time, because that was a very serious incident that is being looked at being designated to be an act of terrorism, and the authorities are looking at that indeed. Having received a preliminary briefing, I think it is quite extraordinary that there weren't more serious consequences of what occurred there in Perth. Antisemitism requires constant vigilance.”
“We will continue to focus on government. With regard to the issues that he raises, I'll wait and see what happens. I have said I'll have respectful discussions, including respectful discussions with the Leader of the Opposition, because I think that's appropriate. I am very much a traditionalist when it comes to—”
“I thank the member for Clark for his question. Indeed, we have noticed the changes that have occurred in this chamber. What has been going on over recent weeks while we have been rolling out the cost-of-living measures, doing deals with states and territories to improve hospital funding and going to South Australia for the first of the new housing agreements helping 17,000 new homes to be built—7,000 of which are reserved for first homebuyers—is that those opposite have been solely focused on themselves. I used to get admonished sometimes by the Speaker for using the term 'no-alition'. I meant it as a joke, but those opposite regard it as a mission statement as they go through. They're fighting each other with the same sort of energy that they used to reserve for fighting our cost-of-living measures as they go through.”
“That's something that the Australian Labor Party was formed to do and it's something that my government is absolutely committed to.”
“The other thing that we have done is to change the LISTO for people in retirement, to benefit more than 1.3 million Australians. But, in addition to the tax cuts, one of the things that we took to the election and that will take place is the automatic refund, so that, because of the system that we have put in place, those people who don't benefit from using accountants or trying to minimise their tax will get that automatic kickback in their bank accounts. In addition to that, of course, gender equity has been a big focus. Measures such as paying super on paid parental leave, closing the gender pay gap, lifting the wages of people in aged care and child care—all of these measures as well have been aimed at tackling inequality.”
“But that's why, when we were discussing with the Treasurer and the Finance minister in the lead-up to last year's budget how we could help people, our focus was on lowering that first marginal tax rate down to 15 and 14 per cent. We lowered that so that we targeted people who really needed the action. The other thing that we have done is to make sure that we have provided government support through measures like the back-to-back rental assistance increases—for the first time—for more than one million households. Tens of thousands of older Australians are receiving a higher rate of JobSeeker, and 1.1 million Australians are benefiting from higher social security payments. That's why we've also made sure that 1.2 million people on low incomes continue to pay no or a reduced Medicare levy.”
“I thank the member for Ryan for her question. Indeed, inequality in Australia is an issue on which this government is focused. The member is, I think, reflecting a view that many Australians would have when they look at the extraordinary growth in wealth at the very top end, and the fact that many Australians are doing it tough. That is an issue which is absolutely critical, but that's one of the reasons why our focus when it comes to tax cuts was—you might recall, and I'm sure the member voted for it—to change the stage 3 tax cuts. We made sure that, while lifting that top rate at which it cuts in from $180,000 to $190,000, we made sure that we took the same amount—around about $106 billion—and we redistributed it to people who really needed that tax cut. Of course, it was opposed by the Liberal Party and the National Party at that time.”
“We've acknowledged, certainly, that many Australians are doing it tough, and that is why we have engaged in responsible economic management, turning those massive budget deficits into budget surpluses and smaller deficits going forward. It's why we have made sure that we've paid off some of that Liberal debt by lowering the amount of debt that is owed.”
“All of those measures are good for people's wallets, but, importantly as well, they're taking pressure off the emergency departments of our hospitals, making an enormous difference. Labor created Medicare, and each and every day we're working to strengthen Medicare for all Australians. It's a big difference between the two sides of this chamber. We are absolutely determined that Medicare will continue to be strengthened, will continue to have more people seeing doctors with just their Medicare card and will continue to take pressure off the emergency departments of hospitals. I thank the premiers and chief ministers for their unanimous support.”
“We know how important that is to Australians, and that's why we're strengthening Medicare across the board. We promised 50 urgent care clinics, and during the last term we delivered 87. Now there are 120 of the 137 we have committed to, being opened right now. We've made PBS medicines even cheaper. A script now costs just $25, the same price that it was back in 2004, and we're adding more and more essential medicines to the PBS listing. That happened on 1 January, and, on the same day, 1800MEDICARE came online—a 24/7 free health advice line, making a difference already. Tens of thousands of Australians have taken advantage of that. We're also making it easier to see a GP for free, with 3,300 fully bulk-billed clinics around Australia—an extra 1,300 in just a few months, far exceeding what the predictions were.”
“I thank the member for Bullwinkel for her question. She is someone who made a difference as a nurse and is now bringing the skills that she has and knowledge of the health system into this parliament. On Friday, we signed a landmark funding agreement for our public hospitals—a landmark agreement with three times the increase that was there in the Morrison agreement that was done during the last decade. This will secure national access to world-class health care as well as disability supports, reducing wait times for surgery and in emergency departments and helping long-stay patients stay out of hospital rooms and get into dedicated care. Every Australian relies upon Medicare. That's the principle that, if you're sick, all you need is your Medicare card, not your credit card.”
“That's what they're interested in, and they can't shut up about it. What we're focused on is cheaper medicines, making sure people can see a doctor for free, making sure that batteries are rolled out around the country, free TAFE and getting wages up. These are all measures that we've implemented—all measures that were opposed by those opposite. We'll continue to engage in responsible economic management. We'll continue to make sure that we deal with the pressures which are there by having a focus on cost-of-living measures. But those opposite, who went to the last election with higher taxes and a higher deficit over the next two years, can't be in a position of doing anything other than—”
“I do encourage my people to not yell out 'time'. There are enough behind her doing that at the moment. When we were elected, inflation had a six in front of it. It's now got a three in front of it. We turned two budget deficits into two budget surpluses, and we used them to pay down debt. That's just part of what we're doing for responsible economic management. As the Reserve Bank has said, the budget is not the main game when it comes to inflation. At the same time that we have got inflation down, wages are up and unemployment is low compared with what we inherited. We'll continue to understand that there are real cost-of-living pressures on Australians, and that is why we have implemented a range of cost-of-living measures. The only cost-of-living issue they're interested in talking about is the cost of living with each other.”
“I inform the House that the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia will be absent from question time this week. She has travelled to the United States to have further discussions about critical minerals. The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations will answer questions on her behalf.”
“The Leader the Opposition said, on 23 December: 'I'll continue to call for parliament to be recalled. It's a comprehensive package that we put forward.' Then, on 27 December, she said, 'Every single day the coalition stands ready to go into parliament and to move our own legislation.' On 30 December she said, 'We have proposed a comprehensive package of laws that we should be debating in the parliament right now.'”
“We chose Mr Richardson as he's probably Australia's pre-eminent expert on foreign, international, and defence and security issues. At the same time, we were convening a process, and we announced what the principles would be in the legislation that we would bring before this parliament that was—”
“I thank the member for Berowra for his question. We spent the immediate aftermath, as I have said, of the attack on 14 December making assessments based upon: how do we ensure that this isn't part of a cell, given ISIS's recognition that was identified very early on by these perpetrators? We wanted to make sure we put in place the measures that kept people safe. That was the first priority, as you would expect. We worked on the Sunday night. The national security committee met very early on the Monday morning. We met, as well, with New South Wales police in Sydney, and we continue to meet on a daily basis. We established that we needed to have the Richardson review, which would look into the operations of the AFP, ASIO and ASIS as security agencies but also the way that they interacted with state agencies.”
“I have engaged with people in every forum, and there is no-one who has asked to speak to me who has not had a meeting. At the same time, what we have had is loud shouting. We had shouting that the parliament had to be resumed before Christmas, but then, when we resumed it, we were resuming it too soon. We had shouting that we had to introduce legislation based upon the antisemitism envoy's report, but, when we introduced it, they opposed it.”
“I met with Sheina yesterday. I spoke with her last week. I spoke with her community leaders—she's from Chabad community in Melbourne—on a regular basis, as well as Rabbi Moshe Kahn, who is a good friend of the member for Macnamara. I met her husband. It was a very warm meeting. It was a very warm and generous meeting. Can I say this. The contrast between some of the rhetoric those opposite have engaged in and the warmth and generosity of this grieving community has been quite extraordinary. I have been into homes and into synagogues. I've had meetings and engagements with small groups, one-on-one and with groups of up to 30 for the first meeting. I was in homes on 16 December. Since then, I must say, a number of people have now become friends because of the extent of the engagement. I visited people in hospital.”
“Often this is difficult, as the examples come from what is a father and son—it's much more difficult to detect. As the ASIO director-general has reported, a big threat is sole actors—an individual actor. In this case, a father and son discussing these things over the dinner table or in private quarters—not engaging in electronic measures, communication that can be detected—means that it is much more difficult. But the government has a range of programs. That is certainly something, as well, that the Richardson review will look at. I'll ask the minister to supplement.”
“I thank the member for Wentworth for her question, and I praise her unreservedly for her role as a local member in what has been a devastating time for her local community—not just the Jewish community. Of course, Bondi is such an iconic place, and the local member has shown extraordinary leadership and capacity in my view, and I thank her for that. I will ask the minister to supplement, but I would say that radical Islamic extremism is a major problem. We know that that is the case. We know that hate preachers can cause a real problem in distorting Islam and creating a circumstance where people are full of hate, and we saw an expression of hate motivated by ISIS, an ideology that isn't about any state. It is about an Islamic caliphate around the world.”
“I certainly acknowledge very directly the pain that Jewish Australians are feeling and that they have felt for some period of time. The idea that antisemitism began with the election of the government in 2022 is just not right. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, on 25 November 2018, said that the 12-month period ending 30 September 2018 saw a 59 per cent increase over the previous year in total antisemitic incidents in Australia involving threats or acts of violence. Josh Frydenberg, the then treasurer, said on 10 May 2019, 'Antisemitism is on the rise here in Australia, and the number of incidents has increased quite dramatically.' The member for Berowra said on 6 May 2019: … I find it hard to believe that in 2019 we are witnessing anti-Semitic incidents on an unprecedented scale.”