Cost of living was one of the biggest issues of the election campaign

Cost of living dominated the election campaign and was a key issue for voters as they went to the ballot box.

Transcript

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.