Mr REPACHOLI (Hunter) (16:07)

It has been three years since Labor got back in the driver's seat. After nine long years on the road to nowhere under the coalition, this government took the wheel and has driven our economy in the right direction. The terrain has been tough at times, but we have not shied away from being up to the job. When we came to government, inflation was high and getting higher. Real wages weren't keeping up, and Australians were going backwards. Those opposite had spent nine long years driving us into the economic desert. Since we have taken the reins, we have been moving in a much better direction. Inflation has fallen to a third of what it was. Real wages are growing, and living standards are rising again. Unemployment is the lowest it's been in 50 years, and over one million new jobs have been created, the most in a single term of any parliament in Australian history.

We know the drive towards a better place hasn't been easy. Australians have felt every bump and turn. But, unlike those opposite, we've felt every bump and turn with them. That's why delivering Australians cost-of-living relief has been our No. 1 focus, and all those opposite have done is stand in the way.

The member for Fairfax says we've failed to ease cost-of-living pressures. I think he has been talking to himself. That's the only thing I could really think of to make any sense of this. I think he woke up this morning, looked in the mirror, thought about the last three years and went, 'Wow, we have failed to ease cost-of-living pressures!' I admire the member for Fairfax's honesty, because it's true. He, along with all of those opposite, has stood in the way of our cost-of-living relief for the past three years. They opposed Labor's tax cuts for every taxpayer. They opposed Labor's Medicare urgent care clinics, including the ones in the Hunter. They opposed Labor's cheaper medicines plan. They opposed Labor's cheaper childcare plan. They opposed Labor's $300 energy bill relief.

If it would ease the cost-of-living pressures, you can bet the coalition opposed it. That's why we call them the 'no-alition' for a reason. Whilst it's never too late to admit your own mistakes, Australians wish the member for Fairfax and the coalition had looked in the mirror and had their wake-up call a little earlier. If they had supported our cost-of-living measures over the past three years, it would have made life easier for all Australians.

The member for Fairfax also says that we have failed to manage the economy. After talking to himself in the mirror about his inability to support our cost-of-living relief, he's also reminiscing about the nine long years of poor economic management underneath the coalition. We know what the coalition is like in the driver's seat and what it looks like. When the Leader of the Opposition was health minister, he cut $50 billion from public hospitals. That's $50 billion. He cut funding from Medicare. He tried to end bulk-billing and made medicines more expensive. The coalition has made this person their leader because cutting is in their DNA. We know their record and what they have planned for Australia if they can manage to wrestle the driving wheel from us and take us back down the road they love—the road to nowhere.

I'm proud of our economic record and the cost-of-living relief that we have delivered. Australians are earning more and keeping more of what they earn under Labor. We are rebuilding our country. We have our plan to keep building and keep easing the cost-of-living pressures. We'll provide another $150 for energy bill relief. We'll further reduce medicine prices, and Australians will pay no more than $25 per script under the PBS. We'll wipe 20 per cent off HECS debts. For all the young Australians with a HECS debt listening to this, we're going to wipe 20 per cent off it. Those opposite will get back to cutting. Those are the options for Australians—do we keep building, or do we keep cutting? Cuts aren't going to make it easier to see a doctor. They aren't going to make it easier to go to university or TAFE. Cuts aren't going to bring down energy prices. Cuts aren't going to make it easier to raise a family, get ahead or even buy a house. But still cuts are all those opposite have to offer.

The member for Fairfax talks a big game, but let's get real on this. If the coalition had been in charge for the past three years, Australians would be thousands and thousands of dollars worse off under what the coalition would have delivered. Remember, they held our wages back. Remember the bills in Medicare. Remember, they tried to cut Medicare. They want to go backwards. We want to go forwards. That's what we'll continue to do as the Australian Labor Party.