Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: This week, the Government has continued with our plan. Our plan to get wages up, get prices down, and to fight inflation.
And what we've seen from the Coalition is they've continued with their plan. That is, their plan to get wages down, to get prices up and to pour fuel on the inflation fire.
Now what we've done this week in Parliament is first on Tuesday, we reintroduced our Help to Buy bill. We know that Help to Buy works because it's been working for more than three decades in my hometown of Perth. It's been working across Western Australia, helping more than 120,000 Western Australians into their first home. So why can't we make that a national plan? I urge all those in the Senate to back this bill that will help more Australians own their own home, and surely that's a good thing.
Yesterday, in Parliament, we continued to debate the Government's plan to make sure that early childhood educators get a fair day's pay for the incredibly important work that they do, and that we put a cap on price increases when it comes to childcare fees. Again, all about supporting Australian families and supporting the educators that look after our youngest Australians.
And today in the Parliament, we will see the Treasurer introduce his merger reforms with a real focus on making sure that we do take strong action to make sure we've got competition in our supermarkets. Because it's competition that makes sure that people get a fair price at the checkout.
We will also see the Education Minister introduce our Better, Fairer Schools Bill. That's all about making sure that our schools have the money and resources and guidance to make sure that every Australian child, whatever their needs, wherever they are, gets the world class Australian education that they deserve.
That has been our focus that this week - delivering for the people of Australia. Making sure that we act on inflation, making sure we act on wages, and making sure that we support the next generation.
Internationally, I think many Australians would have woken this morning to seeing the quite terrifying footage of what's happening with Hurricane Milton in Tampa, Florida. I think all Australians and indeed the Australian Government, send our thoughts to our friends in the United States of America, recognising that this is a catastrophic hurricane. We have seen so many people displaced, and I think all Australians would just hope that those millions of people who have had to move out of harm's way are soon able to return to their homes, return to their businesses, and return to life as normal.
And then finally, there's something very curious in the paper today. Incredibly curious. Which was a suggestion from the front bench of the Liberal National Party that we should move the date of Parliament because of the Melbourne Cup. Now, I'm pretty happy to do my job. The people of Perth elected me to do my job. And what we've got now, some of Peter Dutton's most senior shadow ministers are saying we should move Parliament so they can go to the Melbourne Cup.
That's ridiculous. The people of Australia didn't elect us to go down and sip champagne in some fancy marquee in Melbourne. They elected us to do our job in Canberra.
And if Mr. Dutton and his frontbenchers think that we should change the dates of Parliament so they can go to the Melbourne Cup, well, they should come into Parliament today and move that motion.
I dare them; if they really think that the Australian people with all of the things they expect of the Parliament right now, if they really think the Australian people would have any patience at all for the idea that you would change the dates of Parliament just so a bunch of senior politicians in the Liberal Party and the National Party can go down and put the fascinator on and polish up their shoes in a fancy suit, they've got something else coming.
It just shows how seriously out of touch the Liberal Party and the National Party are - that they want to cancel Parliament so they can go to the Melbourne Cup.
I challenge Peter Dutton, I challenge Dan Tehan to walk into Parliament this morning and move a motion to change the date of Parliament so that they can go to the Melbourne Cup. I think they'll get a rude shock from the Australian people to see them trying to get out of their job. People in my electorate, people all over Australia, do their job on Melbourne Cup Day. Nurses, police, bus drivers, all have to rock up during the Melbourne Cup. I don't know why the Liberal Party and the National Party think that they should be able to go, put the fascinator on, polish up their shoes, wear the top hat, and go to the Melbourne Cup.
It's time that the Liberal Party and the National Party realise they just need to do the job they are elected to do - and not be obsessed with fancy parties, going to the Cup. But if they really want to do it, if they really think this is a good idea, I'll meet them in the chamber of the House of Representatives in an hour, and we can have that debate.
