Australia is in a cost-of-living crisis. Banks and other massive corporations are making huge profits, while everyday Australians are struggling to make ends meet. We need real action to help Australians.
Too many politicians talk about the economy without any concern about whether people are able to survive – much less thrive. I was elected in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, with soaring costs for household essentials, oil and gas companies profiteering from the war in Ukraine, and a shortage of affordable housing, yet the government are more concerned with corporate profits than the wellbeing of Australians.
Currently the Labor government is willing to spend $254 billion on the Stage 3 Tax Cuts for the very wealthy, as well as $368 billion on nuclear submarines. Meanwhile they are allowing billionaires and big corporations get away with paying little to no tax. There is clearly enough wealth in Australia to ensure everyone can live a good life, but the Labor government is instead handing it over to the ultrawealthy and big corporations. The Greens and I are fighting for that money to instead go to providing real cost of living relief for everyday people.
Watch my speech calling for real cost of living relief:
The Greens’ plan
The Greens are the only party who have a plan to address the cost-of-living crisis. We’ll scrap the stage 3 tax cuts, and make billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share to:
- Restore Medicare to ensure bulk-billing GPs in every community, and make dental and mental health care free
- Raise the aged pension and income support to above the poverty line
- Fully fund public education from early childhood to post-school and scrap school fees
- Freeze rents for 2-years and pause interest rate rises to give renters and mortgage holders relief
- Invest $5 billion a year to build enough affordable and public homes to ensure everyone has an affordable and secure place to live
- Implement a 12-month trial of free public transport
- Scrap indexation of HECS/HELP debt and push to wipe student debt entirely