I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.
I am so proud to lead a Government committed to Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through a Voice.
All of us can be proud that we belong to a movement campaigning for a Yes vote in this year’s referendum.
And our nation will be lifted up when Australia votes Yes for recognition, listening and a better future for the people who have called our continent home for 65,000 years.
Thank you, Annastacia for your kind words and warm Queensland welcome.
And to all the state and territory Labor Leaders here with us today.
Along with my outstanding Federal team, led by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and our Senate leaders, Penny Wong and Don Farrell.
Thank you for your support, your friendship, your leadership and your counsel.
Thank you for demonstrating – every day – the difference our party can make for the people we represent.
To the mighty trade union movement of Australia: Thank you for always demanding better, for aiming high, for seeking to bring new life and meaning and relevance to the fair go, everywhere.
For showing that unity of labour remains the hope of the world.
To our President Wayne Swan, our National Secretary Paul Erickson and his team, thank you so much for your hard work and your role in our victory last year.
And to the true believers, here representing our extraordinary Labor rank and file.
Your dedication gives us all strength.
My colleagues and I stand on your shoulders – and we thank you.
Delegates: Fifteen months ago the people of Australia put their trust in our Labor Government.
My team and I came to office with the clear understanding that we would face challenges beyond Australia’s borders and outside of our nation’s control.
Global economic uncertainty.
Open conflict in Europe, ongoing strategic competition in our region.
Disrupted supply chains and rising inflation.
And all these international pressures continue to be felt here at home.
We understand working Australians are doing it tough at the moment, we know household budgets are under strain.
That’s why we meet today not in a spirit of celebration but with a sense of shared determination.
A common resolve to ensure that our Labor Government continues to deliver for all those Australians who have put their faith in us.
The motto of this conference speaks to the focus of our Government.
Working for Australia, to help people under pressure, here and now.
Working for Australia, to build a stronger economy and a fairer society into the future.
Working for Australia, to ensure we not only meet the challenges of this moment, we seize the opportunities of the decade ahead.
I say to delegates: We are here to work for Australia.
And on behalf of our Labor Government I say to every Australian: We are here to work for you
Delegates: The cost of living is the number one pressure on Australian families – which is why it’s the number one priority for our Government.
We assist with the cost of living because of the values we hold in our hearts.
Labor wants to ensure no-one is left behind.
In January, we capped the price of medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at $30.
The first reduction in the cost of medicines on the PBS since the Chifley Government created it.
In July, we made child care cheaper for over 1 million families and working with the states, we are delivering direct energy bill relief to 5 million households and 1 million small businesses.
And today I say to Australians there is more help on the way.
In September, we will be cutting the cost of medicine in half for six million people.
And we will be expanding and strengthening Australia’s social safety net, to help the most vulnerable in our society.
Targeted support for older Australians looking for work and the long-term unemployed.
Boosting payments for people on Youth Allowance, Austudy and Jobseeker.
And expanding access to the Single Parent Payment for 57,000 families, including 52,000 single mums.
This is what we mean by no-one held back and no-one left behind.
And starting in November, we will triple the bulk-billing incentive for GPs around Australia.
Helping 11 million Australians see a doctor for free.
Already, we’ve opened 20 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics around the country.
And there are another 38 to come, in the regions and suburbs where they are needed most.
Taking pressure off our public hospitals and emergency rooms and healthcare workers – and making sure more Australians can get the treatment they need.
So whether you live in Rockingham or Randwick, Logan or Launceston – all you need is your Medicare card.
Delegates: Our Labor Government is delivering the biggest investment in Medicare since Bob Hawke and Bill Hayden created it.
The biggest boost to Commonwealth Rent Assistance since Paul Keating.
The biggest investment in social housing since Kevin Rudd.
The biggest expansion of public TAFE since Julia Gillard.
And through our National Reconstruction Fund – the biggest investment in Australian manufacturing since John Curtin.
Making our society fairer and our economy stronger, even in tough times.
And creating the most jobs in the first year of any Government in Australian history.
Half a million new jobs, since we came to office.
A record number of women in full time work.
The gender pay gap hitting a record low.
And wages growing at their fastest rate in a decade.
Including back-to-back real increases in the minimum wage.
Everyone here will remember a turning point in the election campaign, when I was asked if I would support a decision to increase the minimum wage by $1 an hour.
Remember the $1 dollar coin?
The Liberals said it would wreck the economy.
They said the sky would fall in.
But when I was asked if I supported a pay rise for the lowest paid workers in Australia, the heroes of the pandemic, I said: Absolutely.
Was that the right call? Absolutely.
Was it delivered? Absolutely.
And our opponents must have been beside themselves this year when we delivered an historic 15 per cent pay increase for aged care workers.
But was that the right thing to do? Absolutely.
Because we know there are three vital ways to help with the cost of living.
Getting costs down for families.
Getting wages up for workers.
And getting the Budget onto a stronger foundation, taking pressure off inflation and interest rates.
Which is why it’s so important that through the hard work of Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher we have delivered the first Budget surplus in 15 years.
Delegates, like many of you, I’ve been to my share of Labor conferences.
And it’s fair to say the people who do the hard work of putting together the draft platform don’t always describe it as an uplifting experience.
But someone said to me that this time around the most rewarding aspect has been taking things out.
Not because the commitments are no longer important, or necessary.
But because they are now the law of the land – and making a difference in people’s lives.
Access to 10 days Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave used to be in our National platform – now it’s part of the National Employment Standards.
Establishing a powerful, independent and transparent National Anti-Corruption Commission used to be in Chapter 6 – now the NACC is open for business.
Six months Paid Parental Leave was an aspiration in the platform – within 3 years it will be the right of working parents.
And the right of employees to pursue their unpaid superannuation is no longer in our platform – because that power is in workers’ hands.
And, delegates, before the end of the year, we can take another commitment off the page and see it change our nation for the better.
Our commitment to recognise and celebrate the oldest continuous culture on earth.
Our commitment to listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, so we get better results in health and housing and education and jobs, so we close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Our commitment to a Voice, enshrined in Australia’s Constitution.
Let’s get this done, together.
Friends: This is why Labor being in government matters.
It’s why you, our rank and file knock on doors and make phone calls and help our candidates at local, state and federal level.
It’s why you, the trade union movement organise and advocate.
It’s why the debates of the next three days will be full of conviction and passion and ideas.
Driven by ambition for the future of Australia, for a vision of what Government can do to empower people to achieve their aspirations and fulfil their potential.
In taking up this great task, we face not just the economic and strategic challenges of an uncertain world.
We also have to deal with the policy wreckage of a wasted decade, the devastating consequences of ideology, incompetence and sheer arrogance.
Delegates: Never again can the Liberals call themselves the party of fiscal responsibility, when all they left behind was a trillion dollars of debt.
Never again can the Liberals pretend they support jobs and aspiration, when all they did was hollow-out manufacturing and hold-down wages.
Never again can the party of Robodebt pretend they care about battlers.
Because they will stand condemned forever for the illegal hounding of hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable Australians.
And Bill Shorten has ensured the victims of Robodebt have been heard loud and clear.
And, delegates, never again can the Liberals claim to be conservatives – when they consistently neglected our national institutions, and trashed the public service.
Even the very functioning of our democracy was not immune from their cynical manipulation and addiction to secrecy.
And on that last point, I’m reminded of a joke I heard the other day.
The Prime Minister, the Treasurer, the Health Minister, the Minister for Industry and the Minister for Home Affairs walk into a bar.
And the bartender says: “Just the usual, Scott?”
Look, I get that – on one level – this behaviour by Scott Morrison was so out there, so bizarre that it’s beyond belief.
And I’m sure that if we had suggested in Opposition that this was going on, we would have been accused of making it up.
But, at the heart of it, is something very serious.
An act of fundamental disrespect, a calculated, ongoing cover up that undermined the very basis of democratic accountability.
That’s why we’ve made sure it will never happen again.
Yet the Liberals continue to defend this behaviour, just as they continue to defend Robodebt.
The current Opposition are captive to the same ideology, consumed by the same negativity, hostage to the same narrow nastiness.
Voting against helping households with their energy bills, voting against cheaper medicines, voting against action on climate change, voting against public housing.
So fixated on opposing renewable energy that they’re telling Australians with solar panels on their roofs, to make room for a nuclear reactor in their backyard.
Their problem is not just that they are stuck in the past – it’s that they want to drag everyone else in Australia back there, just to keep them company.
But our labour movement never stands still.
We move forward together, to meet the new challenges of a new era.
Making sure that advances in technology translate to new jobs, greater productivity and better wages, not a race to the bottom on pay and conditions.
Making equality for women a defining feature of our economy: in pay, in participation and in leadership.
Making good on our commitment to Australia’s Veterans, funding the support and staff to deal with compensation claims that have been delayed for far too long.
Making it clear to our region and the world that Australia is back at the table: engaged in finding solutions to climate change, committed to supporting peace and security.
Making Australia a renewable energy superpower: a new wave of growth and jobs in regional Australia: Gladstone, the Pilbara and the Hunter.
Powering new manufacturing and value-adding in Whyalla, the Latrobe Valley and Townsville.
And cutting our emissions, for future generations.
I said on election night that Labor Governments open the doors of opportunity – and we widen them for those who come after us.
We do that by investing in education and in educators – from the early years to school to TAFE to university.
And we do it by helping more people know the security of a place to call home.
I know I’m not the only person in this room who’s here because public housing changed their life.
A home is the foundation on which you build everything else.
There is nothing that lets you reach higher than a solid floor under your feet, nothing like a roof over your head to give you the sense the sky is the limit.
My Mum and I had the security of public housing when I was growing up.
Life wasn’t easy by any means.
But the simple truth is it’s harder these days – and harder for so many more Australians.
Harder for people who need public or community housing.
Harder for renters.
And harder for first home buyers.
The fundamental answer to all this, is building more homes.
And that’s precisely what we’ve been working on, every day in government.
More community housing.
More build-to-rent accommodation.
A $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator for urgent construction and renovation.
And our Housing Australia Future Fund – which will invest in tens of thousands of additional homes for essential workers, for Veterans at risk of homelessness and women and children fleeing family violence.
Of course, the No-alition oppose all this because they have a prejudice against public housing and a pathological problem with ever saying the word Yes.
Their only housing policy – virtually their only policy, in fact – is to push up prices by pumping in superannuation.
Stealing from tomorrow, to make the problem worse today.
And the Greens Political Party aren’t interested in solving the problem, at all.
They just want the issue. The campaign. The social media content.
They revel in the hypocrisy of voting against affordable housing in the parliament, protesting against it in their electorate – and then making memes calling for action.
They want more signatures on their petitions and more followers for their accounts. We want more homes for more Australians.
They are the blockers – we are the builders.
And we are getting on with the job.
Yesterday, at National Cabinet we brought together every State and Territory Government to agree on the most significant set of reforms to housing policy in a generation.
Strengthening the National Housing Accord, to help Australia build an additional 1.2 million homes before the end of the decade.
Modernising the planning and zoning and approval processes, so we can build more homes, more quickly and closer to where people want to live and work, closer to public transport and reliable services, connected to friends and family.
And delivering a better deal for renters, across Australia.
A fairer rental market, with stronger rights for tenants and greater security in your lease: because where you rent is your home and it should feel like it.
And while all this is about improving rights and rules and reform across Australia.
It’s also about the sense of pride and security and connection that a home provides to every Australian.
And today, I am proud to announce to this Conference that as a result of the agreement we secured yesterday with every state and territory, our Help-to-Buy plan will commence next year, nationwide.
Our Government will help 40,000 low and middle income families buy a home of their own.
So often, these Australians have done all the right things – worked hard, saved up, made sacrifices, but a deposit for a home is still out of reach.
Our Government will step up and put in our share, opening the door of home ownership to tens of thousands of hard working people.
We are the party of the Great Australian Dream – and we are going to keep that dream in reach for the next generation of Australians.
Delegates: From our first day in office, my colleagues and I have made it clear that we’re not here to just occupy the space.
We are determined to make every day count, to make a difference.
And just as importantly, we are in this for the long haul, the long term.
To drive the economic and social reforms that change people’s lives, the things that become embedded in our national identity.
That’s when all of us in the Labor movement are at our very best, when we build to last.
You can measure the durability of Medicare and Superannuation and the National Disability Insurance Scheme in years, but you can judge their value by the lives they’ve changed.
The families they’ve lifted up, the communities and workplaces they have transformed.
And our great privilege as a Labor Government is not just to renew what has gone before.
Our responsibility is to plan and build for what’s ahead.
That’s where the next 18 months are so important for Labor and for Australia.
That’s why it’s vital we leave this Conference with a plan for progress over the next decade – and a platform for victory in 2025.
Delegates
The last time we had a National Conference in Queensland was 50 years ago, back then, a newly-elected Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, spoke of his determination to show it was possible for Labor to hold power without sacrificing our principles.
Today, each of us understands that winning and holding Government is not only true to our principles, it is essential to fulfilling them.
We know the world of difference between Opposition and Government.
Equally we know what we have begun can be undone, unless we are there to protect it.
We’ve seen a first-class, fibre NBN replaced with copper, ignoring the productivity benefits that come from overcoming the tyranny of distance.
We’ve seen Australian manufacturing and breakthroughs in solar technology driven offshore.
We’ve seen the National Disability Insurance Scheme pushed to the brink.
That’s what is at stake now.
The difference between a moment of progress – or a lifetime of opportunity.
The difference between reversing the mistakes of the last decade – or seizing success in the next.
The difference between laying the foundation – and finishing the build.
The difference between everything we have done to turn around a decade of wages being kept deliberately low.
And everything we can do to build an economy where productivity and wages and living standards grow together.
Yes, we have delivered 180,000 fee-free TAFE places this year.
But we can give an entire generation of Australians the skills they need for good jobs.
We have helped more than 1 million families pay less for their child care this year.
But we can make early education and care universal and affordable for every Australian family into the future.
After a decade of neglect, aged care homes now have a registered nurse on call, 98 per cent of the time.
But we can make sure that aged care guarantees the dignity and security that every Australian deserves later in life.
After a decade of cuts, we’re making historic investments to strengthen Medicare.
But we can make sure every Australian can count on affordable, quality healthcare – no matter where they live, no matter what they earn.
This is the difference.
The difference between taking the gender pay gap to an historic low.
And making the gender pay gap history.
The difference between writing an emissions reduction target into law.
And seeing it achieved in new jobs and clean energy and a healthier environment.
The difference between keeping the Reef off the ‘endangered’ list.
And keeping it safe and healthy for our children and their children.
It’s the difference between whether we shape the future – or the future shapes us.
And all this depends on bringing people with us.
Earning and repaying people’s trust.
Delivering meaningful help for Australians.
Demonstrating our responsible approach on everything from the economy to foreign policy and national security.
And showing we are capable of bringing people together, in the national interest.
This may not always grab every headline.
It might not suit the agenda of those who prefer protest to progress, who imagine grand gestures and bold declarations are better than the patient work of ensuring lasting change.
But we are not here for mere gestures – we are here to change the country.
To go the distance, to get to the destination, to deliver the better future we promised.
Delegates: As we meet here today, there are millions of people working for Australia.
Educators and carers and healthcare workers, looking after those we love most in the world.
Miners and farmers, builders and engineers, driving our national prosperity.
Small business owners and start-ups, backing themselves and creating jobs.
Our servicemen and women, our emergency personnel, the Australians who put themselves in danger to keep us safe.
And shift workers stacking shelves and moving trolleys, people making deliveries, cleaning offices, doing their very best to support their families and give their children a better life.
I say to all these Australians, people of every faith, every background, every tradition, the people working for our nation, it is our great privilege to work for you.
My fellow Australians: This is the task my colleagues and I set for ourselves on our first day in Government.
It is what has driven us every day since.
Working to build an economy that rewards your efforts.
Working to nourish a society that supports your aspirations.
Working to be a Government worthy of your qualities and character.
Working to deliver the better future our people and our great nation deserve.
Your Labor Government.
Working for you.
Working for Australia.
This is the text of the Prime Minister’s speech to the ALP National Conference on Thursday in Brisbane.
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