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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“She can be proud of all she has given in service of the Labor Party and our nation, and in Basem Abdo, whose campaign I was happy to launch with Maria at an early learning centre in her electorate in Calwell in December, she has found a replacement who will carry on a commitment to multiculturalism and to looking after the people of Calwell. So, after a long and successful career, I congratulate Maria and I wish on behalf of the Australian Labor Party all the best for her future and that of her family.”
“I want to congratulate the member for Calwell on giving a final speech, a valedictory, that reflected her career and her character. It was full of grace and gratitude and particularly concentrated on the importance of supporting multiculturalism and Australia's diversity—something that she has done in her entire time in this place. Her electorate, of course, is one of Australia's most multicultural. In any visit that I've made to that electorate, Maria is someone who has engaged with those multicultural communities, brought people together and enhanced social cohesion.”
“One is his pride in his community and everything he's worked to deliver over 18 years as an MP. I reckon my visits to Moreton are probably up to around 30 or 40 at least! Everything from multicultural events to Mains and Kessels—which is the most expensive overpass anywhere in Australia, it's got to be said; more than $300 million on an intersection! Graham was absolutely determined to do that, and it has unclogged that part of Brisbane. It was a real investment. We went through the processes and found that, bizarrely, it did stack up in terms of productivity and the difference it would make. That was just one of the many projects Graham advocated, from level crossings to a range of infrastructure projects to community infrastructure projects as well, in the electorate.”
“on indulgence—In his first speech in this place the member for Moreton promised to bring some poetry and literature back to the chamber, and in his final speech he's done both; Graham has certainly held to that commitment. I'm sure all members would agree that, whatever the issue is before the House, it's always worth listening to the member for Moreton's contributions to debate both for their substance and the way they are presented with humour, insight and, importantly, heart. Graham has been an extraordinary colleague for a long period of time. He has friendships, quite clearly, across the chamber. Some, as we've learned today with Darren Chester, are closer than we know about; I'll leave that to those two to deal with! Whenever you visit Graham's electorate of Moreton, two things come across.”
“We're investing in future jobs through our future made in Australia. And our climate change action is the thing that young people, when I travel, particularly to high schools, raise with me perhaps more than any other issue around Australia, and I'm sure that's the case in the member for Mackellar's electorate as well.”
“Debt is $177 billion lower in 2024-25 than what was forecast at the time of the election. We're also, of course, investing in children's education, whether it be early education and early learning, with our childcare reforms and the school reforms I just spoke about—moving towards fair school funding as identified by Gonski all those years ago—right through to free TAFE and to universities. The cutting of student debt by 20 per cent is about intergenerational equity. It is about acknowledging the concern and pressure that young people are under. More than three million Australians will benefit by an average of $5,000 if we're re-elected as government, as one of the first actions that we will do will be to introduce that legislation in our second term. We're also, of course, building more homes for Australians, which is important.”
“the fast-changing nature of workplaces and their experiences in life but also about dealing with the challenge of climate change and the fact that people who say, 'You can't make a difference immediately,' forget the fact that generations who will inherit our climate are not ones that have benefited from the growth that came from fossil fuels in the 20th century and the 21st century. One of the things we have done is establish the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee. The Minister for Youth is very active in establishing an Office of Youth Affairs—it didn't exist before we were elected to government. We have delivered on our commitment to deliver a more robust intergenerational report in the middle of every year term, and one of the reasons we are targeting debt is it makes a difference.”
“I thank the member for Mackellar for her question and for her advocacy, and I certainly commit to having a look at the ideas that have been put forward by the member for Mackellar, who plays a constructive role in this chamber. I agree about the question of intergenerational equity—and I have spoken about this, including in the speech that I gave at the National Press Club—because it is a genuine feeling that people have, arising out of the changed circumstances which are facing young Australians. Young Australians are very concerned about not just their economic position.”
“Now, every Australian will know what that means—back to rising inflation, back to wages deliberately low, back to aged care in crisis, back to bulk-billing in freefall, back to child care being out of reach, back to chasing manufacturing offshore, back to veterans waiting years for benefits, back to chaos and multiple ministries; that is what they presided over. Keep that in mind next time you hear someone talk about 'back on track'.”
“The question for the member for Menzies is: is he against that additional hospital funding? Is he against the additional education funding? Because the member for Menzies, when I was in his electorate—or what will be his electorate that he is running for at the next election—just a short while ago, when the Leader of the Opposition was advocating his new-found love of China and all things that are connected with China for the lunar New Year, they were out there talking about 'getting back on track'.”
“What I did when I would have been with the Victorian Premier was to sign an agreement to deliver additional schools funding for every Victorian student, and I make no apologies for that as well—over $16 billion on the table to make sure every student in the great state of Victoria, just like we want in every state, to get the best opportunity in life through a better education. And the way you do that is by dealing with the reforms that were put in place and recommended by David Gonski all those years ago—14 years ago. But it has taken the re-election of a Labor government to fulfil the vision of David Gonski and another great Victorian representative, former prime minister Julia Gillard. That is what we are doing. Just last week we had $1.7 billion, including substantial additional funding for Victorian hospitals.”
“I think it has to be pretty broad, that one, Mr Speaker. The member for Menzies is lost. He thinks he is in—I'm not sure—Spring Street. What my government has done is work constructively with state and territory governments across the board. We work constructively with the governments, for example, of Queensland Premier David Crisafulli and the Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, who I was with—there is a bit of an Italian connection with us three, of course. We work constructively not just on building the economy and creating jobs but on opposing this opposition's nuclear plan going forward, because that's absolutely friendless.”
“We're training more tradies, with more apprenticeships, 20,000 fee-free TAFE places in construction and the $10,000 apprenticeship incentives that I announced at the National Press Club—something unfamiliar to most of those opposite—just before Australia Day. There's the local infrastructure announcements that we have made—two rounds of local infrastructure announcements facilitating the building of new homes, whether that be through connecting electricity, connecting water or making sure that any impediments to more housing supply are removed. Our social housing policy will lead to 55,000 homes being built. We have also provided assistance in the form of increased rent assistance in back-to-back budgets, now more than 45 per cent higher than at the election, in addition to helping 200,000 people into their first home sooner.”
“They say, 'Tax cuts for corporates.' This is the same mob that wants every single person who has any vague connection with a business to have a free lunch for themselves and their mates. They don't regard $10 billion for three months for their mates as something that's largesse, but they are opposed to funding for social and public housing. They are opposed to more investment in private rentals and they are opposed to our shared equity scheme that will make a difference as well. The model has been successful in Western Australia. We are getting on with the job of building 1.2 million homes. Indeed, there are other things we are doing as well.”
“I thank the member for his question. Indeed, fixing the affordable housing shortage is a big challenge for Australia. We have a plan that is focused on supply, because that is the key, whether you want to be a homeowner, or you are a renter or someone in social and affordable housing. That's why our $32 billion Homes for Australia plan is worthy of the support of everyone in this parliament—I note that the crossbenchers eventually, reluctantly, got there. They crab-walked their way to vote for some of the plans that were put forward. In the last sitting week of December, we passed our build-to-rent incentives that are so important for private renters in Australia, to make a major difference. Those opposite here are still opposed to it.”
“As the member is aware, Ambassador Rudd has had a meeting with President Trump. But also our defence minister, over the weekend, met with the US defence minister. And our foreign minister was of course one of the few international representatives invited to the inauguration. We will continue to engage diplomatically with the United States—not with loudhailers, but diplomatically. That is how we have got things done in our relationships right around the world.”
“We know that the Leader of the Opposition was voted Australia's worst health minister. His idea of getting Medicare on track was a funding freeze and a GP tax. His idea of getting public hospitals on track was to rip $50 billion out of their funding and to have a new hospital tax. All the opposition leader's tracks end up in the same place: Australians worse off and people paying more.”
“Australian women asked for change, and we are delivering it. This announcement builds on the other work we've done to strengthen Medicare: tripling the bulk-billing incentive so that more people can see a GP for free; making medicines cheaper, saving Australians more than $1 billion already as a direct result of that change; 87 urgent care clinics—we promised 50 and we delivered 87; and health care when you need it. More than 1 million Australians have got free care as a result. So many of those Australians have been under the age of 15. And just last week we announced $1.7 billion of additional funding for public hospitals and health services next year. This will help to cut waiting lists, it will reduce waiting times in emergency rooms and it will help with the ramping issue. This is in stark contrast to the alternative approach.”
“I thank the fabulous member for Macquarie for her question and for her ongoing advocacy, which has centred of course on her local electorate but also on issues that affect all Australians, including Medicare. Yesterday we announced a historic $573 million for women's health, delivering more choice, lower costs and better health care for women. Our new investment includes the first PBS listing for new oral contraceptive pills in more than 30 years; last century was the last time that a government made a difference here. It includes more bulk-billing and bigger Medicare payments for long-term contraceptives, the first PBS listing for new menopausal hormone therapy in over 20 years, and more endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, treating more conditions. These changes will save women thousands of dollars.”
“Australian companies have significant investment in the US steel industry, creating thousands of jobs in both the US and Australia. We will continue to make the case for Australia's national interests with the US administration. What's more, we regard this as also being in the US's national interests because tariffs, of course, don't tax us; they tax the purchasers of our products. That is something that is very clear. It's also a fact that the US has had a trade surplus with Australia since the Truman presidency. I have a discussion with President Trump scheduled, and I will certainly keep the House and the Australian people informed after that discussion.”
“I thank the member for his question. As the Australian people know, I will always stand up for them. I will always stand up for Australia's national interests, and it is in Australia's national interests to have a free and fair trade. This government has a strong record, indeed, of working with other nations to protect and advance Australia's trade interests. We will navigate any differences which are there diplomatically, and we will continue to make the case to the United States for Australia to be given an exemption to any steel and aluminium tariffs. We have raised with the US administration in recent ministerial discussions these issues. Australian steel and aluminium are core imports to US supply chains and US based industry. Indeed, just this morning, I had a meeting with the global CEO of Rio Tinto.”
“I thank the member for his question. As I said before, it sounded pretty similar to previous questions. As I've said, you can be for the Australian Federal Police, ASIO and our security and intelligence agencies keeping people safe, or you can be for playing politics.”
“There are a range of assertions in that question that the Leader of the Opposition chooses to raise, because that's the point—just to play politics. It's not to try to find and hunt down the perpetrators, not to make sure that the perpetrators are held to account, not to find out who is behind the front people, not to discuss or get a briefing of intelligence. Well, I stand with the AFP and ASIO and the ASD and all those who are working so hard to hold these people to account and to ensure that either the perpetrators themselves or those behind antisemitic attacks are held to account, arrested, charged and put in the clink. That is my priority. The opposition leader is showing what his priority is here today, and it is all wrong.”
“There have been instances of people releasing or referencing classified material in the past, and, indeed, there was a rebuke by Senator James Paterson of the Leader of the Opposition for referencing classified information in this parliament.”
“I thank the member for her question. I refer to my previous answer. I note the characterisation of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. I'm happy to provide a brief, through the security agencies, if requested by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition hasn't got one, but we're happy to provide that, and then the shadow minister might be better informed. The priority here is not the playing of political games. The priority—”
“He won't tell you where they are coming till after the election, but we know that he's had health in his sights before, and we know it will be in his sights again.”
“These haven't got a colour coded spreadsheet to decide where they are; they have been provided in regional Australia, in our suburbs and in our towns, right throughout the entire country. They have delivered over one million free doctors' appointments. This new agreement increases the Commonwealth contribution to state-run hospitals over the next year by 12 per cent to a record of almost $34 billion. That stands in stark contrast—I'm asked about alternatives. The last time the coalition got into government, they tried to rip $50 billion from public hospitals, they wanted a GP tax every time people visited a doctor, and they wanted a payment to be made when people visited the emergency departments of public hospitals as well. On Sunday the Leader of the Opposition made clear that the cuts are coming.”
“All of the states and territories that we've engaged with over recent days have welcomed this announcement, and I congratulate the health minister on the work that he has done to deliver this. This is just part of our plan—better support for our public hospitals but also support for primary health care so that the pressure is taken of those emergency departments. That's why the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive was so important. That's why 87 Medicare urgent care clinics are providing the care that people need for free. Over one million Australians, one-third of whom were under the age of 15, have visited those urgent care clinics when they've needed them. They're right across the board.”
“I thank the member for Gilmore for her question. Indeed, my government is building Australia's future by strengthening Medicare, prioritising support for people to get the health care they need when they need it and where they need it—they will just need their Medicare card in order to get it. That's our priority. Government is about making decisions about priorities of expenditure. That's why $1.7 billion of additional funding for public hospitals just in the next year will make an enormous difference. That's our priority, not long lunches, but helping people with the health care they need. This funding will help to cut waiting lists. It will reduce waiting times in emergency rooms, and it will manage ramping. This will save lives.”
“I thank the member for his question. I've said that the government has two priorities. The first is keeping Australians safe. The second is making sure that the ongoing investigation, which is ongoing, prioritises not just capturing those people who have been involved—and there are, of course, at least two people who are in custody publicly. But, in order to ascertain who is behind this, it is absolutely critical that the AFP, the state police agencies, ASIO and the intelligence agencies be allowed to do their work, and the federal government will provide every support for them.”
“But, once again, we are seeing, at the worst of times, the best of the Australian character, and I pay tribute to all those who are providing this assistance on the ground at what is a very difficult time.”
“I have a brief update on the Queensland floods, which continue to have an impact. On behalf of the House, I want to express our sincere condolences on the second loss of life that we've seen in this flood: an 82-year-old woman, who was found outside Ingham. We express our condolences to her family and friends in their bereavement. The ADF now has the four additional choppers available there to provide assistance. That goes with the other emergency services personnel who are working closely with the Queensland government. Senator McAllister remains there as the Minister for Emergency Management, and we continue to provide whatever support is requested to Queensland.”
“That was a very clear, unequivocal statement from not just the shadow minister but the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, there explaining in just one sentence why the opposition are opposed to free TAFE and why, when the Leader of the Opposition was the health minister, they sought to impose a tax every time someone visited a GP or every time someone went to a public hospital emergency department. That they don't value Australians is the real issue. Australians do value TAFE. They do value Medicare. They do value things that help to make their life better, and that is what this legislation does. I say this: as long as there is a Labor government, free TAFE is here to stay. I commend the bill to the House.”
“With this legislation, we understand that TAFE needs to be viewed as a component of the tertiary education system that is just as important as the university sector. Whether it's TAFE or university, we value both and we invest in both, and we want both to be affordable and accessible to all Australians, which is why we are also, of course, importantly, abolishing so much student debt. Three billion dollars of student debt has already been abolished, and we'll abolish 20 per cent of student debt if we are elected. In announcing that the coalition would vote against this bill, the shadow minister said: And remember this, and it's a key principle and tenet of the Liberal Party: if you don't pay for something, you don't value it.”
“A waste is losing the potential of a young Australian to be trained for the jobs that they need. A waste is someone who needs to retrain for a new opportunity in life being denied that opportunity. There is waste of time and opportunity when housing and energy projects can't get underway because of skills shortages. There is waste when businesses have to look overseas, instead of Australians being trained and ready here at home. When we look at our migration system, I want our first priority, and I make no apology for this, to be the training of Australians. That should be our starting point. But so many businesses are so desperate for skilled workers that they have to look overseas.”
“It is worth emphasising the connection between what TAFE delivers and our economic growth and our future, because a decade of cuts to TAFE and apprenticeships didn't just deprive people of the chance to train and retrain; it also inflicted on Australia the most severe skills shortage in 50 years. That's what we inherited. And skills shortages have an impact on the supply chain and then feed inflation. Indeed, they put petrol on inflation. That weakens our economic resilience, puts cost pressures on business and slows down key projects. And that's why it amazes me that the Liberal Party and the National Party are still saying that free TAFE is wasteful spending and a sugar hit. It's not a sugar hit and it's not wasteful. I'll tell you what's a waste.”
“To quote Chad, who I met as he was training to find a new job in the mining industry at Thornlie TAFE in Perth, where I visited along with the Premier, Roger Cook: 'I thought it was a great way to get my foot in the door. I'd say you should definitely have a crack.' Indeed, all over Australia, that is what our people are doing: backing themselves, getting the skills they need for a job that they want, not being held back by costs, not being left behind because they are unable to find a place. They are people being lifted up by public TAFE, and our economy and businesses are benefiting from a more skilled and a more productive workforce.”
“That's what free TAFE looks like in the real world: aspiration in action, people aspiring to a better life for themselves but also aspiring to that sense of achievement when you can look at a new house that you have been a part of building, when you can look after an older Australian and know that you have given them dignity and respect in their later years, when you are a teacher who's managed to take a young Australian and help to shape their future and to educate them. That's what it looks like: hundreds of thousands of people training for a new career, whether they're young people or older workers training for a new opportunity. Now, of these free TAFE places, it's important to note that one out of every three has been taken up in regional communities, and that is so important as well.”
“There are 35,000 studying early education. Katrina, from Swinburne TAFE, also in Melbourne, enrolled in a free certificate III course as a pathway to primary teaching because, in her words, 'Free TAFE came out and I thought: "Why not do it? I've got nothing to lose."' There are 50,000 people training in digital technology and 130,000, who I have met in TAFEs from Tasmania to South Australia to New South Wales to Queensland to WA, engaged in aged care and disability care.”
“One of those things that we know about public TAFE is that, without exception, there's no-one by definition who goes to a public TAFE who says, 'Oh, I was ripped off,' 'It was just about profiteering' or 'I didn't get proper training.' We know that public TAFE is so important. Of course the private sector has an important role to play as well, but, if you don't have a public TAFE system that is effective, then the system simply won't be able to deliver what is needed for our economy. Now, I do note that the shadow minister, when speaking against this legislation, posed the question: what does it actually look like in the real world? Well, I'll tell you what it looks like in the real world. It looks like 35,000 Australians enrolling in construction courses. It looks like the carpentry students I have met everywhere, including in Adelaide.”
“In every field of national endeavour, so many of the jobs our nation needs to grow our economy, strengthen our society and compete and succeed in the world start at TAFE. That's why one of our first priorities on coming to government was to put public TAFE back at the centre of vocational education and training, back where it belongs. There are many private vocational education and training providers who do a fantastic job, a great job, who specialise in a particular area and impart skills to Australians. But we know from the mess that was the migration system that we inherited that many of them simply aren't up to scratch.”
“We know that education is the most powerful weapon that we have against disadvantage and it is the best investment we can make in building Australia's future, because every challenge that we have to meet, every opportunity which is there to be seized, depends on investing in the skills and capacity of the Australian people, whether it's the tradies to build and plan the homes we need, the electricians and mechanics to deliver the clean energy to take us to net zero, the healthcare workers to look after our families, the aged-care workers and disability carers bringing security and dignity into the lives of our loved ones or the technology workers to help Australia succeed in a new era of digital transformation.”
“One of the things I have found from going into TAFEs from the time when I was the Labor shadow minister for employment, services and training—many years ago now—is that, for many older workers, they are so proud to go into the local TAFE and to impart their knowledge and skills as electricians, as plumbers and gasfitters or as carpenters onto a new generation of Australians. That's why we, as a government, are backing them in.”
“We want it to be permanent.' We, of course, have now had something in the order of 600,000 Australians who have benefited from free TAFE, and I've met many of them. On Friday, I was at Swinburne TAFE with Minister Giles, with Matt Gregg, the local candidate for Deakin, and with Gabriel Ng, the candidate that we have for the electorate of Menzies. Most importantly, I met one young Australian who had been doing his law degree—and he's still doing it—but decided halfway through his law degree that he'd rather build stuff. He's going into carpentry and getting that satisfaction. We were there in a structure that was being built, and he was proudly speaking about joinery and the skills that he had. I do want to give another shout-out as well—not just to the students.”
“We've created Jobs and Skills Australia to identify, with private sector involvement, what the skill sets that will be needed are, not just in a year but in five, 10 or 15 years time. Free TAFE is targeted at areas of skills shortage, both blue-collar and white-collar, such as electrical, construction and new industries such as information technology and the adoption of robotics and artificial intelligence, as well as the care sector—people working in early childhood education and working in aged care. We benefit employers and we benefit the whole economy. This is one of the key mechanisms that we have to boost productivity in this country. What this legislation does is take the success that free TAFE has been and say: 'We want to enshrine it.”
“On election night I spoke about the historic mission of Labor governments: opening the doors of opportunity and then widening them. There's nowhere where that's more important than in vocational education and training. That is what this legislation does. It enshrines free TAFE as a permanent feature of our vocational education and training system. I'm very proud that no government has done more to rescue TAFE than we have, let's be frank. We have been working with state and territory governments across the board to provide the opportunity for young Australians to get the skills that they need but also to benefit workers retraining for new jobs and new industries with new skills. But the other things that free TAFE does aren't just benefiting an individual.”
“When I was in Darwin on Christmas Day, one of the things that occurred was the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the tragedy that was Cyclone Tracy. As Darwin was built back, it was built to be more cyclone resilient, as opposed to 50 years ago, when there was massive damage, which could have been lessened had that occurred earlier. So we do need to invest. We also are working with insurance companies. For example, the Hazards Insurance Partnership brings together the Australian government and the insurance sector. The forum has been created so we can talk about how we can reduce those insurance premiums, because we know that they are having a real impact, and I thank the member for her ongoing interest in these very serious issues.”
“That's doing things such as raising levees around Mackay. That's making sure that the cost of building bridges—for example, the discussion I spoke about earlier today, building back better so that you don't have the same bridges washed away every time there is a flood, like what used to happen with the Einasleigh River Bridge up in the Gulf Country. Every time that occurred, food and medical supplies had to be choppered into Normanton and Karumba and into those communities. I spoke to Bob Katter just this week; some of those communities in Far North Queensland are cut off as we speak. So we do need to invest in those measures. We also need to invest in projects that help reduce the risk of damage to homes and businesses. That will put that downward pressure on insurance premiums.”
“I thank the member for Warringah for her question and for her genuine commitment to action on climate change. The member should be pleased to know that we're acting precisely along the lines of what she asks about in her question. We're developing both the national adaptation plan and national risk assessment as we speak. We know that the impact of climate change means that, while Australia has always had natural disasters, if you look over a period of time, they are more intense and they are more frequent. That is occurring as we speak. We have made sure as well that we're addressing the issue of insurance availability. For example, one of the election commitments that we had was to establish $200 million a year, every year, in disaster prevention resilient projects through the Disaster Ready Fund.”
“He said on Sunday that he'd had text messages with the ASIO director-general. When asked by David Speers what was in those text messages, he quite rightly refused to say, because that's how you deal with these things. This isn't some game, and it should not be about politics. And, quite frankly, it is astonishing—”