Cost of living dominated the election campaign and was a key issue for voters as they went to the ballot box.
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00:00We were very pleased to see the backing of the Housing Australia Future Fund. That is
00:08a very important development under the first term of the Albanese government. We now need
00:13to boost that even more. Billions need to go into creating more supply, particularly
00:18of low income social housing. And we didn't see that commitment for the billions that
00:23we need in the election period. And so we're urging the Prime Minister now to do the hard
00:29work to get more supply, particularly low income housing. And I do want to acknowledge
00:34this morning that for many of the people that we represent and the experience for very low
00:40income people has not changed. We saw tax cuts offered, but we didn't see fixing the rate
00:45of Social Security. A job seeker is still just $56 per day. I want to thank all of the parliamentarians
00:52of the crossbench who called for that payment to be properly fixed. This is a government
00:58now has a chance to do that. And we're urging them to do the right thing and be bolder in
01:03this second term, because for far too many people, on the very least, they didn't get
01:08the policy commitments that we wanted to see in this election from either of the major parties.
01:13Cassandra, we're just seeing people walk into the mall now to try to do their grocery shopping.
01:18I saw a woman with a huge bag to try to get her grocery shopping. Groceries, cost of living,
01:24how the basic necessities have been unaffordable to many people. Do you think that the Labor
01:31Party would be able to address that with all the policies that they promised over the campaign?
01:38Look, in the first term, we certainly saw them get on top of inflation. That was really important.
01:42And we still have relatively low unemployment in Australia. So we have a moment here to finally
01:48turn this picture around in terms of cost of living. But what we need now is to fix Social Security
01:55so it is adequate. Jobseeker needs to go up. Youth allowance needs to go up. Those Social Security
02:00payments are so essential for people. Second is the big boost in social housing. Tax reform would
02:06really help us in the housing crisis. Let us make sure that stays on the table. We're all ready
02:11to work with this government on fixing tax reform. And finally, on energy bills. No more energy relief
02:18rebates for everybody. Not everybody needs it. Let's help the people who really need it.
02:22And that means investing in low income housing to get the performance of those houses up,
02:27renewables into those houses, electrification. Let's make sure we're focusing on people who
02:31really need the help now. And those precious dollars that are in the hands of this government
02:36now go to the right people.