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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“Once again, our government is delivering for Australians, delivering carefully and delivering methodically. We are a government that looks to Australia's future armed with the lessons of the recent past and an understanding that Australians are always best served by a government that governs not just for today but for the long-term future of this nation. I commend the amendments and the bill to the House.”
“It will bring together critical information and experts to protect Australia from diseases and other threats to public health. The Australian CDC will provide high-quality analysis and advice on public health risks to governments and the Australian community. It will also promote and coordinate action to prepare for and respond to these tasks. Just as we've worked to apply the economic lessons of the pandemic by investing in our manufacturing capacity, strengthening our supply chains and building our economic self-reliance, we must learn the health lessons of that time as well. That is what this legislation does. On a small sidenote, you couldn't ask for a more Australian acronym than ACDC, though if this ACDC were to have a theme song—and I know raising contemporary music is dangerous in this House—it would have to be 'Highway to Hell'.”
“We are heeding one of the core recommendations of the COVID-19 inquiry: to ensure that in the future we are as prepared, as a nation, as we can be. So what we did was the systematic, orderly, considered development of policy into progress that defines the way that this government operates. We came into government with a commitment. We established the COVID-19 inquiry first and waited to hear that evidence in our first term. We took that influence and used that input into policy, and then, of course, we introduced the legislation in this term. Now, these amendments will improve that legislation on the basis of being prepared to consider advice and the process which we have gone through. This will make the ACDC operational from 1 January. It will be an independent statutory agency led by a director-general.”
“As the COVID-19 inquiry report would eventually lay bare, Australia went into the pandemic with no playbook for the pandemic, limited readiness of the National Medical Stockpile, and badly stretched aged- and healthcare systems. A few months after my vision statement I used my budget-in-reply speech to commit a future Labor government to establishing an Australian Centre for Disease Control to bring us into line with other advanced economies. I'm pleased that, with this legislation, having followed considerable work to make sure we got it right, we're once again turning a vision from opposition into a reality delivered in government and maintaining our momentum in delivering for all Australians.”
“Knowing that a stronger future for our country depended on that anomaly being addressed, I called for the establishment of an Australian Centre for Disease Control, properly resourced and independent—a CDC that would provide governments with consistent, rapid advice and a CDC with a focus on preparedness for any future pandemics, including drills and exercises. We must not forget that one of the factors that saw Australia even more vulnerable to COVID and its impacts was that we hadn't had a pandemic drill since Exercise Sustain under the Rudd government a dozen years earlier. The grim consequence of the coalition government's complacency was that we were woefully underprepared for what came.”
“(): I move: That the amendments be agreed to. In June 2020, in the days when oppositions actually developed policy, I went to the National Press Club to deliver my vision statement on science. My opening words were, 'One day, when the pandemic is over …'. With the spectre of a second wave of COVID then hanging over us, I talked about how the pandemic had been a wake-up call for Australia. I pointed out the anomaly that we were the only OECD country without an equivalent of America's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.”
“on indulgence—I congratulate the minister on this. This is an outstanding achievement. I also acknowledge the backing up of what the government did by the member for Riverina during that period as well. This is an outstanding result. People in regional communities—many of them—ran the risk of being without aviation services, which is about the economy but also about access to health services and education. I acknowledge that. On that note, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper .”
“Page 8 of the Climate Change Authority's 2035 targets advice says this: Expert analysis by the Australian Energy Market Commission projects residential electricity prices will fall by 13% (about 5c/kWh) and average household energy costs will fall by about 20% (around $1,000/year) over the next decade under a coordinated renewables rollout. That's the direct quote. So it's an entire representation to pretend that that is the member for Solomon's view. He is quoting the advice which is there and is something that the member, I'm sure, knows.”
“I thank the member for his question. As the Treasurer has just told the House, it's somewhat perplexing how, in tactics committee, when someone came up with the question to ask about Foodbank, someone didn't go, 'Actually, what might be a little bit uncomfortable is the fact that we ripped out $20 million per year out of funding for Foodbank.'”
“We've opened five per cent deposits for every first home buyer as well. And last Saturday there was the largest investment into bulk-billing in Medicare history. We want 90 per cent of GP visits to be bulk-billed by 2030 and to make sure more GP clinics bulk-bill every patient. As of Friday, the number of GP practices committed to bulk-billing was 1,600. It's now Wednesday, and already more than 1,000 GP clinics have been added to that list. That's the sort of positive action that's been delivered by our Labor government. Those opposite are defined by what they're against. They're against Medicare, they're against cost-of-living help, and now they're against reliable energy and action on climate change as well. We know what they're really against: they're against each other.”
“The last time I was in the electorate of Bonner we stood in a backyard there and looked at the real difference it was making—the solar panels on the roof, the battery, making sure the energy is stored, reducing bills permanently for that family. And there are the $10,000 bonuses delivered for construction apprentices—delivering them, along with free TAFE, with a bonus and an incentive to go into construction, backing up our original plan, delivering for energy apprentices, for the new economy. We have cut student debt by 20 per cent—promised and delivered, flowing through. As the Minister for Education has said, in coming days and weeks there'll be that little button they'll press on their phones, getting that information, that detail, through to all those students—a benefit of, on average, $5½ thousand.”
“I thank the member for Bonner for her question and for her strong advocacy for her local community. Campaigning with her in the lead-up to 3 May, I understood how connected she is with that local community and how passionate she is about making a difference to people's lives, by easing cost-of-living pressures, by getting wages up and by strengthening Medicare—and there'll be an urgent care clinic in the member's electorate very soon. At the election we promised to keep acting on those things, and they're certainly our focus right now, such as the 11,385 cheaper home batteries installed since 1 July.”
“We make no apologies for the fact that we've delivered when it comes to increased support for rent assistance and that we're delivering increases in support for social housing as well. (Time expired)”
“My government is committed to delivering solutions right across the board, whether it be addressing people on the minimum wage or whether it be the increases in payments that we've made—the energy bill relief, the cheaper medicines, the cheaper child care, the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive for Medicare and the delivery of urgent care clinics. I tell you what: the over 650,000 Australians who've benefited from free TAFE understand that that doesn't just skill them up for a better job and that it doesn't just improve the national economy by providing employers with the skilled workforce they need; it is also cost-of-living relief—cost-of-living relief that was dismissed by the Leader of the Opposition, who said that people don't value it if they don't pay for it. We make no apologies for that fact.”
“Women in particular would have been under more pressure if the gender pay gap wasn't the lowest it has ever been. Workers in aged care would have been under more pressure had they not got the substantial pay increases that were funded by this government. Workers in child care would have been under more pressure had they not got the pay increases that childcare workers have now got in order to be sustained. Workers would have been under more pressure had the four increases in the minimum wage not been advocated for by this government and had the Fair Work Commission not listened to this government. The easy task is to identify a problem. The difficult task is delivering a solution.”
“Well, our economy is continuing to grow. Inflation is half of what we inherited. Real wages have increased. Interest rates have started to fall. But we understand that the work of good government and addressing cost-of-living pressures is never done, which is why we continue to act on cost-of-living measures. We understand that people are under pressure, but they would have been under more pressure had they not got an income tax cut, which was opposed by those opposite—except for at the higher end, of course. People would have been under more pressure if inflation still had a '6' in front of it, which is what we inherited. They would have been under more pressure if the more than one million jobs that have been created on our watch had not occurred.”
“That's why it's not surprising that people are being asked to leave the House, to leave the chamber, so that political games can be played rather than actually engaging in debate. I say this to the opposition and to the Greens political party. This is good for jobs and good for industry, but it is also good for the environment. You have an opportunity to be part of the solution instead of continuing to be a part of the problem. The Australian people had something to say about the 'noalition' and their tactics of blocking—”
“Five years after the reception of the report from Graeme Samuel, it is time to get things done. So their choice is clear. They can talk about the problem, or they can vote for the solution. That is the choice that will be before the Senate. The government's position is clear. This week, we'll pass this legislation through the House of Representatives. We'll be voting for jobs, we'll be voting for housing, we'll be voting for new energy. We'll be voting for new projects and new industries across regional and remote Australia, and we'll be voting to pass on a better environment to our children and our grandchildren, for a stronger economy and a healthy environment.”
“The opposition and the Greens political party in the Senate both acknowledge that the current laws are broken, so their choice is very clear. We had legislation in the former parliament that couldn't receive support in the Senate, so the existing laws just carried on. I want to make this very clear: the government is determined to have this legislation carried this year. If that doesn't occur, the opposition and the Greens political party will both be responsible for the existing laws—that they themselves say are not fit for purpose—continuing on. That is what we are dealing with. That is the choice that people have. We have said that we're up for dialogue and up for sensible propositions, if there are improvements that can be made. But this is the time. This has gone on for long enough.”
“In order to build confidence in these decisions and strengthen the enforcement of these laws, at the centre of this legislation is the creation of Australia's first national environmental protection authority, honouring a commitment that the Australian people have voted for not once but twice. The independent national EPA will have stronger powers to impose tougher penalties, but, importantly, the final responsibility will remain with the minister of the day, because in our democracy ultimate responsibility should belong to the elected representatives. The government has worked tirelessly to consult about these laws across the community. The broad engagement we have undertaken is reflected in the broad support for these reforms, from the Property Council to the Australian Industry Group to the Smart Energy Council.”
“Rather than doing, for example, 10 trees here or 20 trees somewhere else to make a difference and alleviate the impact of a project, by having a national restoration fund managed independently you can pool the contributions and do something really significant that makes a much bigger difference to our environment: a net gain for Australia's environment. This bill will give clear guidance about protecting threatened species and important habitats, which are not there in the current laws. It will impose tougher penalties for significant breaches of environmental law.”
“This isn't just about conserving our natural heritage and assets; it's also about repairing any damage that is done. The repair could be done either directly—through delivering an offset, such as planting more trees and providing essential habitat for unique Australian species—or by contributing to a restoration fund, managed by an independent statutory officer in the department. This idea of an independent restoration fund, to build back not just what was there but to build back better and to make an improvement to our natural environment, makes enormous sense. It's a practical measure going forward.”
“Now, you can't say you're concerned about any of these issues and then vote against this legislation, because this legislation does deliver on the vision of Graeme Samuel. This bill is about driving better, clearer and speedier decision-making, making it easier to get an answer from government sooner—a quicker yes or a quicker no, providing that certainty. That is the key to encouraging investment in our economy. Every bit as important as encouraging investment in our economy is ensuring there's a better system of protections for Australia's precious and unique natural environment—firstly, by giving the minister the power to make national environmental standards, which simply aren't there at the moment: clear, enforceable expectations around offsets, engagement with traditional owners and matters of national environmental significance.”
“It wasn't needed at that time.' They think that everything that happened prior to 2022 is just forgotten and that there weren't issues there until the change of government by the Australian people in 2022. In fact, Australians know, for example, when it comes to housing approvals that, if you have a major project that is delayed for year after year after year—and there are examples of projects that have been delayed for more than a decade—that increases costs, it reduces supply and someone pays the bill for that delay, because the asset is held but the capital is not spent in improving the value of that asset, and someone has to pay. And who pays? The consumer. Who pays? The entire Australian public, because that is one of the things that boost inflation.”
“He said this just last week: At long last, almost five years to the exact date of delivery of the report, Minister Watt has produced legislation which implements the totality of the report in substance, in a way that I could not possibly have imagined back in 2020 … I cannot possibly imagine why anyone would want to now oppose it. But, of course, we have circumstances where the now opposition commissioned a report, they received the report and we have legislation that's based upon the report, but now they're opposed to it. We got an insight, perhaps, into why that's the case from the member for Wright just this week when he said, in justifying not even having a housing minister or any housing policy for most of the period they were in office: 'Oh, it wasn't needed.”
“It has been five years since the Leader of the Opposition, the then environment minister, received the review that was commissioned by the former government into the EPBC Act. It was commissioned, of course, from Professor Graeme Samuel. Professor Samuel's review laid out a clear plan for changes that would deliver better outcomes for our environment and better outcomes for our economy. On receiving the review the opposition leader said this: It is time to find a way past an adversarial approach and work together to create … reform that will protect our environment, while keeping our economy strong That's precisely what this legislation does, and Professor Graeme Samuel has been very clear about his support for this legislation.”
“They are a barrier to jobs and investment across our nation, and in many cases they overlap with or duplicate state and local government processes. All of this costs money, it creates uncertainty and it wastes time. Back in 2000, the median wait time for project approval was 48 weeks. Today it's 118 weeks. Far too often, those delays mean investors simply walk away, regional and remote communities miss out on good jobs, growing suburbs don't get the new homes they need, and business, industry and households miss out on cleaner, cheaper energy. Projects get passed back and forth between different levels of government or are tangled up in layers of process. This problem isn't new.”
“These reforms are central to meeting the challenges facing our nation here and now, and they're vital for Australia to seize the profound opportunities that are right ahead of us. The starting point for this legislation is a simple fact that people across this parliament know, understand and have said is the case. And people outside the parliament know, whether that's environmentalists concerned about the state of our natural environment or business trying to get things done and create jobs. They all say that the current laws are broken. They were written by the Howard government for a very different Australia, and they haven't just become obsolete; they've become an obstacle. They're not working for the environment and they're not delivering for business.”
“Right across the board, delivery is what drives our government, and these reforms are all about delivery—building new homes, connecting new energy, creating new jobs, providing the certainty to catalyse new investment, unlocking our critical minerals and rare earths not just to dig up and export but to refine and process and make more things here in Australia, and boosting productivity across our economy all while protecting and restoring our environment for future generations, because Australia doesn't have to choose between a strong economy and a healthy environment. We don't have to choose between creating jobs and cutting emissions. We can do both; indeed, we must do both because each one depends on the other.”
“For our government, the six months since the election have been all about delivery—delivering the policies that the Australian people voted for on 3 May: cutting student debt by 20 per cent; making it easier to buy a home, with five per cent deposits; protecting penalty rates and overtime pay; delivering real help with the cost of living through cheaper medicines; and, of course, starting last Saturday, the biggest boost to bulk-billing since Bob Hawke's government created Medicare.”
“In August, indeed, the Leader of the Opposition claimed about this policy: … today Labor announced a revised Morrison government policy which we developed to help Australians get into their first home with a smaller deposit. So it was their policy that they tried to claim, then they're against it. Now they're against the 1,358 Australians who have benefited from this in just that one electorate. But we know that there is a comparison, of course, because we heard it yesterday from the member for Wright. The member for Wright said—and he backed it up today, saying it exactly when the Minister for Housing was making her contribution in this chamber—that the reason why there was no housing minister under the former coalition government was that it wasn't needed. Apparently, up to 2022, everything was hunky-dory.”
“I thank the member for Monash for her question, and, indeed, I hope that she writes to the 1,358 members of her electorate who've benefited from the five per cent home deposits. I hope she writes to them and says that, somehow, it's inappropriate that you're buying your own home and that what you should have done was just stay paying off someone else's mortgage rather than paying off your own mortgage, because that is what the member for Monash is suggesting. But she raises housing policy under this government that I'm proud to lead with a housing minister who's doing an extraordinary job supporting increases in social housing and increased build-to-rent schemes for private rentals as well as increased homeownership across the board.”
“The member for Lingiari is such an outstanding advocate for people in those communities, and I congratulate her on the extraordinary work that she is doing which is why she was so well received by the local population, the Anangu people, there at Uluru.”
“We have 33 remote water projects on track to bring clean and reliable water to 25,000 people. In response to the Closing the Gap report, we promised new action to cut the cost of 30 household staples for families in remote communities. As of Saturday, more than a hundred community stores have signed up to that. That's about getting essentials like flour and tinned fruit and toothpaste—those essentials that most of us take for granted in Australia—so that people can stay healthy on country. Our government is focused on making a real difference for First Nations people in remote communities, on economic empowerment and healthy lives supported by good jobs and wages.”
“We've replaced it with the Remote Australia Employment Service, building on the 1,700 remote jobs we're already rolling out—over halfway to the 3,000 that we will deliver. This is all about our government's focus on economic empowerment for Indigenous Australians—tangible, positive change creating new opportunities. We also have a responsibility to ensure that every community has access to the fundamentals of a decent life, things that most Australians take for granted. Last year, our government made a generational investment in remote housing in the Northern Territory. Our 10-year agreement will deliver up to 2,700 homes in the Northern Territory. Many of them are up and running already, and I met people in that community who have already benefited from this program tackling overcrowding and creating local jobs.”
“I thank the member for Lingiari for her question. It was an absolute pleasure to be with the member at Uluru, just over a week ago, to celebrate 40 years since the handover of Uluru-Kata Tjuta to First Nations people, to the traditional owners. It was a wonderful celebration and it was indeed a great honour for me, as Prime Minister, to be there. Labor promised to abolish the failed CDP, which was essentially Work for the Dole, providing no training, no skills, no real wages and no real advancement for First Nations people in remote communities, and to replace if with real jobs with proper wages and decent conditions. And we've done just that. As of Saturday 1 November, the CDP is gone for good, and it's good nationwide.”
“One of the things that characterises this government is that we go and we underpromise and overdeliver. We didn't go to an election and promise that we would produce budget surpluses, and yet we delivered not one but two.”
“Notwithstanding some of the rhetorical flourishes in that question, the fact of the matter is that this side of the House is the only side of the House—sometimes with support from the crossbenches, to be fair, some of the time. We have implemented a consistent policy of support of cost-of-living measures. And, when it comes to fiscal policy, of course, we are happy to compare our fiscal policy of two budget surpluses and lower deficits, of savings—$188 billion of reduction in debt as a result of government actions and $60 billion less in interest payments on that debt as a result of government actions—with the previous regime of nine years, which promised a budget surplus in the first year and every year thereafter and didn't deliver a single one.”
“I thank the member for Cook for his question. Indeed, I think the member for Cook has made some outstanding contributions from time to time. I'll quote him. When working at McKinsey, he was the co-author of an article titled 'Carbon light: How Australia can power ahead in a net-zero world'.”
“This is how it's going: the head of the Australian Industry Group, responsible for manufacturing, was asked, 'Does Australia need another debate about net zero?' This is what Innes Willox had to say: Oh, God, no. No. Anything but, please. We've been there before many times over the past 20 years or so … for many in business, there will be a lot of … eye rolling about this simply because business had hoped that the broad fundamentals were settled. And that is what is so important. The Business Council of Australia's Bran Black—”
“That all happened on the coalition's watch. Then they put $3 million into a feasibility study for Collinsville—do you remember that?—with zero chance of it ever progressing. Of course, it didn't progress under them. They did nothing about it. They had no plan whatsoever for our long-term energy security. Since the election, they've ripped themselves apart over energy policy. They haven't been fighting about this for six months; they've been fighting about it for two decades. That is 20 years with 23 different failed energy policies and three prime ministers torn down over the issue. We, on this side of the House, have one energy policy, and we are delivering it. It's providing certainty.”
“I thank the member for Forde for his question, and I recongratulate him on his election as well. When we came to government, we inherited a debacle of a situation when it comes to energy. It was put very well by Mr Coorey of the Australian Financial Review always worth reading, Mr Speaker. He said this: … in reality, the climate wars of the past two decades, caused primarily by recalcitrance from the conservatives, is the reason why the energy grid today is such a dysfunctional and costly mess as it tries to play catch up. I couldn't have put it better myself. But, when we came to government—what Mr Coorey is referring to is the fact that 24 out of 28 ageing coal-fired power stations announced they were closing within the decade. Eight had already closed, including Hazelwood, because they were old and at the end of their lives.”
“The former government had low wage growth as a key feature of their economic architecture. He would know that as well. So the member is forgiven in his first term. I congratulate him on his election, for being here.”
“But this treasurer delivered not one but two budget surpluses, the first consecutive budget surpluses in 20 years. He would also know, when it comes to the cost of living, that this government has progressed a range of changes, from cheaper medicines to the rolling out of urgent care clinics and the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive to lower health costs. He would know the difference that we've made in paid parental leave and in the superannuation guarantee. They've made a difference. He would know that the minimum wage has increased each and every year under this government—something that is the direct result of the deliberations of the Fair Work Commission but with the advantage of having submissions from a government that supports, not opposes, real-wage increases.”
“I thank the member for his question, but it was an interesting use of statistics there. I was waiting for him to mention the fact that 1.1 million jobs have been created under this government. I was waiting for him—and I forgive him because he wasn't here, of course. If he was here in May 2022, he would have known that inflation had a six in front of it. It was double what it is now. He would have known also that interest rates started to increase under the former government and that there have been, in fact, three reductions in interest rates this year under this government. He would have known, when it comes to fiscal policy, that they sat there, promised a budget surplus in their first year, when they were elected in 2013, and every year thereafter and, in fact, delivered zero when it comes to surpluses.”
“It was very uplifting to be in a room with a group of Australians who have devoted their lives to curiosity, to discovery and to the teaching of science not only for the benefit of all Australians but also for the benefit of future generations. Across the spectrum, it was a wonderful evening, and I congratulate all the winners. It's important that, as a nation, we don't just celebrate our sporting achievements, which often get a big rap, but also acknowledge that Australia punches way above its weight with Nobel laureates and in other areas of innovation in science as well. Last night was a chance to celebrate that.”
“The Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools was won by Mrs Paula Taylor and in Secondary Schools by Mr Matt Dodds for his creative teaching methods. His speech was particularly well received. The Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year was won by Professor Yao Zheng, the Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year by Dr David Khoury and the Prize for New Innovators by Dr Nikhilesh Bappoo. On behalf of the government and also on behalf of all Australians, I want to congratulate the incredible winners of the prizes for science. Every researcher, scientist, innovator and teacher there has made a truly remarkable contribution to Australian science.”
“We're joined today in the gallery by winners of the Prime Minister's science awards, held in the Great Hall last night. It was a wonderful event. I congratulate Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska of the Queensland University of Technology, who won the Prime Minister's Prize for Science for her study of air quality, which provided vital insights in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 and redefined our understanding of air quality. The Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation was won by Dr Vikram Sharma. The inaugural Prime Minister's Prize for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledge Systems was particularly well received yesterday evening by Professor Michael Wear from Western Australia.”
“I thank the member for his question. I'm not sure if the member was here during the debacle that was the rolling door of governments between 2013 and 2022. If he was, he would know that there weren't questions asked for most of that time of the housing minister. If he was here, it wouldn't have been possible for him to ask a question of the housing minister for most of that time, because they didn't even have one. The member has the hide to ask—”
“If you get health care right, if you intervene early, if your GP has a relationship with the patients they look after—and many of us have had the same GP for a long time—from that understanding and care and trust which has built up, it can be better health care which benefits the individual. It also will stop what might be a small problem from becoming an acute healthcare issue. That is why that community around Belconnen, where we were today, will benefit from this as one of the many clinics making this decision. As they make that assessment about what is in the financial interest of the clinics—because some 18,000 of them will be better off—that will provide that incentive for us to deliver on the 90 per cent, which is the object of this policy for being bulk-billed.”