Federal Election

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (15:18): We are in the middle of a very intense election campaign. Some people have made the comment that the federal election campaign is probably one of the more brutal, personal and grubby ones that this nation has seen. I think we all understand that democracy is robust and politics is tough, but this election is one that really matters.

There is a lot at stake. We are talking about the future of our nation. I want to take a couple of moments to talk not about the barbs or the campaign itself—I do not even want to say a single word about the opposition or their policies—but about what I think matters in this incredibly important debate that is going on within our country at the moment.

There are four things that are going to matter to me on Saturday. The first one is health. You are nothing without your health. I think that all of us in this nation subscribe to the idea that, if we can help people out by making sure that they are healthy all the time, that is a good thing to do. I think we all subscribe to the idea that your own personal health, the health of your family and children and the health of your neighbour should not be determined by the amount of money you have in the bank.

At this election, Labor has a serious proposition to put a lot more money back in our public hospital system. Public hospitals throughout the country are under an extraordinary strain, including right here in South Australia. Labor has a proposition to put in excess of $2 billion extra into our public hospital network. They have a plan to put over $2 billion into a specific Medicare cancer plan. That is about making sure that, no matter who you are, no matter how wealthy you are, you get access to cancer services that you need when you are facing one of the biggest challenges in your life.

The second is education. This world is changing at a rate that no-one has ever seen before in human history. It is becoming increasingly challenging to deal with the advancement of technology that is disrupting jobs, which we never thought was possible. If we are going to continue to have the standard of living that we enjoy in this country, we have to do everything that we can to invest in the muscle between the ears of our kids, in their heads.

We have to invest everything that we can to make sure that every last bit of human capital in this country, every last child, fulfils their potential. That is why public education is essential. At this election, Labor believes that, if we are serious about doing that, we have to invest more in public education so that every kid, regardless of their parents' wealth, has the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Labor has a plan to do that: a massive investment of over $200 million right here in South Australia.

The third is the economy. We have a growing economy in this nation. We have one of the best standards of living anywhere in the world, but a lot of people are being left behind. Wages growth has never been lower in recorded history, for as long as the Australian Bureau of Statistics has been measuring it. Labor has a plan to do something about wages, including increasing the minimum wage. The minimum wage in Australia, for people who do not know, is a bit over $37,000 per year. People in this place earn a lot more than that. I think that we can do a little bit more to help those people by increasing their wages.

Fourthly and finally is climate change. This is real. Saying that climate change is real can no longer be something that politicians say to tick a box on their way into parliament. When you are a political leader, when you aspire to be in parliament, and you say that climate change is real, that means you also take on the responsibility to do something about it. If we are serious about leaving this world a better place for our future generations, then we have a moral obligation to do something about climate change that will actually make a difference. Labor has a plan to do something about climate change. We do not just say it is real: we have a potential prime minister who is willing to do something about it.

The final point that I will make is in regard to Bill Shorten. I have known Bill for a long time. I know that lots of his policies are not universally loved amongst the electorate, but they are all about doing something regarding the list of things that I just talked about. When Bill came to parliament in 2007, Kevin Rudd made him the parliamentary secretary for disabilities, probably just to give him something to do and put him out of the way because he was clearly a rising star.

Bill took on that responsibility as parliamentary secretary for disabilities not as just some stepping stone but to use the power of government to do something about a community in this country that was largely forgotten. He turned the parliamentary secretary for disabilities into the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Imagine what he can achieve if he is Prime Minister of Australia. This weekend, I will vote Labor because I believe that climate change is real, I believe that every kid deserves a chance, I believe that every single sick person deserves the best health care they can get, and I also believe that this economy should deliver for everybody, not just the few.