Our budget repays hard work, nourishes aspiration and creates opportunity. That's why I stand today to support this enabling legislation—legislation that underpins our reform agenda and recognises the challenges Australians are facing, cost-of-living pressures, the uncertainty of global events and the need for stability at home. It responds to these challenges with proactive policy and investment in sectors such as housing, health, infrastructure, energy, skills, training and multiculturalism with funding to underpin reform.
For years, Australians have carried the weight of a coalition government that told them simply 'ride it out'—a government that shrugged its shoulders as prices climbed and wages stagnated and a government that told renters to just buy a house and told families struggling with power bills that nothing could be done. But Australians knew better. They knew that government could and should help. They knew that budgets should serve people, not the other way around. Now, after a wasted decade, that is exactly what this budget delivers. It acts on needs and supports Australians to get ahead.
This budget builds on the foundation laid in our last term: cheaper child care so parents, especially mums, can work more, earn more and get ahead; free TAFE so thousands of Australians can train for jobs that are in demand now and in the future; energy bill relief so households and small businesses can breathe easier; and tax cuts for every taxpayer, because, in tough times, every dollar counts. These are not abstract measures; they are practical steps that ease financial pressure and expand opportunity.
In my electorate of Corangamite, I've spoken with parents who tell me that cheaper child care has made a real difference to their lives. I've met apprentices at the Gordon Institute of TAFE who are embracing free TAFE and proud to be the first in their family to take up a trade. I've spoken with pensioners in Waurn Ponds who have felt the real difference of hundreds of dollars off their power bills. These are not lines in a budget paper; they are lives being made easier.
This budget also looks forward. It invests in the industries that will power our future—clean energy, advanced manufacturing, defence capability and skills. It is a plan to make more things here, to back Australian ingenuity and to create secure, well-paid jobs in our regions. For Corangamite, that means opportunity—opportunity in renewable energy projects on the Surf Coast, opportunity in advanced manufacturing in Geelong, opportunity in construction, in care, in teaching and in all the sectors crying out for skilled workers. It also means investment in the infrastructure that keeps our community strong—local roads, rail connections and community facilities that bring people together. From Armstrong Creek to Torquay, from Waurn Ponds to Ocean Grove and from Leopold to Clifton Springs in my electorate, communities are growing, and they need the infrastructure to match. This budget makes sure that growth in regional communities like mine is recognised and is supported in a sustainable and responsible way that looks to the future.
This budget delivers the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation—$8.5 billion to lift bulk-billing, build our health workforce and expand access to urgent care. It funds another 50 Medicare urgent care clinics, building on the 87 already open. One of these clinics will be in my electorate of Corangamite in Torquay. It has been so much welcomed, and I look forward to standing with my community when the doors open. Just last week, I'm proud to say the tender process kicked off for the provider to be selected for the clinic. The Torquay urgent care clinic will expand access to health care on the Surf Coast, ensuring locals can get urgent care close to home without long wait times in emergency. I'm proud that Torquay on the Surf Coast will soon get a mental health prevention hub.
This budget also invests in scholarships for nurses and midwives, supporting the next generation of health professionals in our region. Importantly, it delivers record investments in women's health, from contraception access to endometriosis clinics and to menopause support. For too long, women's health was underfunded, undervalued and too often ignored. This budget says clearly that women's health matters. This is a budget designed to keep the pressure off families today while building opportunity for tomorrow. The No. 1 concern for Australians right now is the cost of living. That is why this budget delivers responsible, targeted relief. Tax cuts are front and centre. Every Australian taxpayer will receive a tax cut this year and next. For the average earner, that means an extra $2,548 in their pocket, around $50 a week extra. For more than one million low-income Australians, we are also raising the Medicare levy threshold to provide further relief.
Energy rebates will continue, with $1.8 billion more invested in this budget. Every household and one million small businesses will benefit, cutting another $150 from bills this year. The Albanese government is ensuring energy companies pass on cheaper deals and discounts so families get the value they deserve. After a decade of stagnation, real wages have now risen for five consecutive quarters. This is good news. It is a core Labor principle that workers share in our nation's prosperity, and what better way to do this than through wages that add to our productivity? This budget funds $2.6 billion in pay rises for aged-care nurses, supports higher wages for early childhood educators and reforms non-compete clauses to help lift wages across the economy. Wage growth is about whether a worker can pay the bills, save for a home or buy a child new school shoes. We're cracking down on supermarket power, scams and unfair surcharges. We're making the Food and Grocery Code mandatory, boosting penalties and giving more teeth to the competition watchdog.
On education and skills, this budget delivers real reform. We are cutting 20 per cent off all student loan debts, raising the minimum repayment threshold and reducing repayment rates. Together with earlier reforms, this will wipe out $19 billion in debt for more than three million Australians. That is good news. That matters for the young teacher in Geelong West, the apprentice electrician in Armstrong Creek and the nursing student in Waurn Ponds. It means that they graduate with less debt and more freedom to build their future. Medications will also be cheaper under Labor's PBS, with the maximum price of a PBS script dropping from $31.60 to $25. For pensioners and concession card holders, the cost will remain at just $7.70. We are listing more life-saving medicines on the PBS, some of which would otherwise cost patients hundreds of thousands of dollars.
We will provide relief today. We also want to invest in our future. Our $33 billion housing plan will build 1.2 million homes by 2030. We are expanding Help to Buy, increasing incentives for apprentices in construction, cracking down on foreign ownership when it comes to the purchase of established homes and ensuring new developments are connected to the infrastructure they need. This is about giving young families across the Surf Coast, the Bellarine and Geelong, in my electorate alone, the chance to stay in their communities where they grew up, to build their futures and to contribute to local economies. Early education will be made more accessible through a new three-day guarantee, ensuring every family can access at least three days of subsidised early learning. We're investing $5 billion to expand access to child care and lift wages for early educators. Government schools will be fully and fairly funded, finally meeting the Gonski standard after almost 15 years. As a former teacher in government schools, I can say how proud I am that we have achieved this, and I'd like to thank the Minister for Education for his work in making this happen.
Across the next decade, the Commonwealth will also invest $16.5 billion, with states and territories also investing, to better support government schools. Thank you to the states, and let's get on with that. Free TAFE will be made permanent, with 100,000 places locked in each year from 2027. New university reforms will ensure that graduates with less debt have more opportunity.
This budget invests more than $3 billion in green metals, clean energy and critical minerals because Labor is committed to emissions reduction and tackling climate change head-on. It also reinvests in the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. This is a product of Labor, and it is serving a very important purpose—funding new innovation and backing industries that will make Australia indispensable in the net zero global economy. We're abolishing non-compete clauses for most workers, introducing national licensing for electricians and rewarding states that implement pro-competition reforms. The changes will help boost GDP, reduce inflation and lift wages across the economy.
These reforms are in Labor's DNA. We acknowledge the role unions play in advocating for change. This is what building for the future looks like—a stronger Medicare, more homes for more people to have a roof over their head, a better education and hope for the future, and a new generation of industries to power our prosperity. Inflation is coming down. Real wages are rising. Unemployment remains low. These outcomes have not been easy; they have required responsible choices and careful economic management. I would like to take a moment to recognise and thank our treasurer, the member for Rankin, who has driven economic reform and outcomes and passed sound decision-making policies and responsible economic management. Most importantly, these decisions reflect the resilience and determination that we have in partnership with the people of Australia. We know too many families are still doing it tough. This is why our government is delivering real help with the cost of living right now, while at the same time laying down the foundations for a stronger, fairer and more productive economy in the years ahead.
This is a responsible budget. It helps with the cost of living today. It invests in health, housing, education and our environment. It strengthens the economy for tomorrow. It does all of this while repairing the budget itself. Since coming into government, we have delivered the first back-to-back surpluses in nearly two decades. Gross debt is $177 billion lower than forecast. We have found $94 billion in savings—no small amount—banked most of the revenue upgrades and ensured payments are growing at less than half the rate of our predecessors. That is what responsible management looks like. Most importantly, this budget is about responsible nation building. It is about ensuring Australians not only survive the turbulence of today but thrive in the opportunities of tomorrow.
Australia is turning the corner. This budget helps us in the fight against inflation, it helps rebuild living standards, and it helps maximise our national advantages in a changing world. It is a budget rooted in responsibility and driven by optimism—optimism that working Australians can see their wages grow; optimism that families can afford the essentials; optimism that every child, no matter where they are born, has access to education and opportunity; and optimism that, in a world of uncertainty, Australia will be a stronger, fairer and more secure place. This is our plan to build a stronger economy, a fairer society and a future every Australian can be proud of. This is our government's approach—to invest in people, to invest in communities and to invest in the future where we are lifting living standards. This budget is a statement of values—that we value hard work, that we nurture aspiration, that we protect families and that we plan responsibly for a hopeful tomorrow.
