JODIE BELYEA, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR DUNKLEY: Good morning everyone. And welcome to Dunkley. I'm Jodie Belyea, and I'm the Labor candidate for the Dunkley by-election. Today is the day. Today is the day when the people of Dunkley vote for someone to be their representative in the Federal Government. Today is also a very special day for the Prime Minister. It's his birthday. Happy birthday, Albo. I love Frankston. I'm a mum with a mortgage. And my son, Flynn, went to this great school. I love this community. And I will deliver for Dunkley. I will deliver and bat for the battlers and represent them if I'm elected tonight. For those of you that don't know me, I am a woman that has worked within the community, supporting women and families doing it tough. I have also worked and supported many young people in this great community to fulfil their potential. I will deliver for Dunkley because I know how to get things done. I have a Masters in business leadership. And I have set up my own not-for-profit that supports vulnerable women doing it tough. So, if you want someone that can get things done and that can deliver for Dunkley and represent you at the Federal level, I am the person. So, please vote Labor so that I can be a strong, local voice for this incredible community. I'd now like to introduce the Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much. Thanks very much, Jodie. Look, firstly, thank you, Jodie, for the birthday wishes. And thank you, everyone, for the birthday wishes that I've received today. Now, what I want for my birthday is obvious today, which is a win for Jodie Belyea. And I do that because this community deserves a strong advocate. This community needs a strong advocate. And Jodie Belyea will be that strong advocate. We wish this by-election wasn't happening. Peta Murphy was a remarkable person. I've said before in front of all of my colleagues that she gave the best first speech in Parliament I've ever heard. It was a great privilege to be there. And it was a privilege to get to know Peta over a long period of time. She ran twice before she was successful in this seat, which is historically, over recent decades, been held by the Liberal Party a lot more than it has been held by Labor. But Peta Murphy won the confidence of this community. She got things done. She advocated for the Urgent Care Clinic there at Frankston. She advocated for cheaper child care. She advocated for the amazing sporting facilities where we held yesterday's press conference so that young people could get access to the opportunity that comes through that. She was a strong supporter of education, including of TAFE. And Jodie is someone who attended Chisholm TAFE, where I drove past today. An extraordinary facility that's been made even better by having fee-free TAFE where 350,000 Australians have got the chance to get a trade, to get support in the care sector as a child care worker or aged care worker, to get a start in life, or to get a restart in life. Because one of the things I've found, as I've gone around TAFEs around the country, is that so many people are going back and retraining because the opportunity of doing it for free has provided that incentive to open up the doors of opportunity, which is one of the issues that defines my Government. Cheaper child care is a huge issue as well. We've had measures that have reduced child care costs by 11 per cent on average. And we know that this community, particularly low and middle income earners, have been doing it tough with cost of living pressures. So, we've responded to that. The tax cuts have passed Senate this week will ensure that every single taxpayer in Dunkley get a tax cut, not just some. One of the differences in this election is a Liberal Party led by Peter Dutton that's driven by all negativity, that never puts forward a solution, never puts forward an alternative, just says no. That thinks that aspiration is what people who earn above $200,000 have. We understand that people in this community, whether they earn $40,000, or $60,000, or $120,000, or $200,000, all have aspiration. That's what defines Australians. Wanting a better opportunity, not just for themselves, but for their children and generations to come. That's why we made sure that people who earn under $45,000 don't miss out on a tax cut. That's why we adjusted the tax rates all the way through the marginal rates right through up to the top end. Because we understand that every Australian aspires to a better future. And someone like Jodie, who has worked through the Women's Spirit Program, has worked with disadvantaged communities all of her life, has been someone who's been devoted to supporting aspiration and supporting opportunity. Now, Peta Murphy was such a strong advocate. This community needs a strong advocate in Government. Jodie Belyea will be just that to carry on Peta Murphy's legacy. And I can't have been more proud to stand with Jodie. I understand now, what Peta Murphy saw in Jodie which is why she recruited Jodie to the Labor Party, and asked her to consider running as the candidate should, tragically, the worst in her health situation arise.
Can I conclude by just saying this will also be a very difficult day for Rod Glover, her husband of decades, and for Peta Murphy's family. The loss of Linda White, yesterday, another Victorian Labor member, to cancer. Again, all too soon. The fact that we've lost two people within three months of each other who had so much more to give will make this period very difficult today. But I sincerely hope and would ask Australians and asked the voters of Dunkley to vote for Jodie Belyea today. Honour Peta Murphy's legacy, make sure that there is a candidate here and a local representative who won't just be another bloke, with all the other blokes who sit behind Peter Dutton saying no to everything, but will be someone who will actually be a strong advocate for the future of this community.
JOURNALIST: You've spoken a lot recently about middle Australia. Isn't it true that tonight, we'll find out what the middle Australia thinks about you and your Government?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I have spoken about middle Australia. And we're delivering for middle Australia. Middle Australia are the big beneficiaries of our tax cuts. And bear in mind what Peter Dutton said about them and the Deputy Leader said about them as well. First, they said they'd oppose them. Then they said they'd fight them. Then they said they'd roll them back. Then they said we should call a full general election for having the hide to suggest that middle Australia should be the focus of these tax cuts. Then they ended up voting for them, went through the Parliament unanimously but are still arguing against him. Only Labor is focused on middle Australia.
JOURNALIST: If you lose this election on a big swing against Labor, will that be a sign of the political risk you took in rewriting those tax cuts was a mistake?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it is the right thing to do. Wasn't the easy decision. It was the right decision done for the right reasons. And we did it for the right reasons. We asked Treasury, 'How can we impact low and middle income earners without putting pressure on inflation?' We had done cheaper child care, cheaper medicines, the fee-free TAFE, energy price relief plan, support for the largest rental increase support for 30 years, increases in welfare payments, the paid parental leave scheme, the support for single mums. We had done all of those measures. But clearly, we needed to do more and we needed to do more that was targeted at middle Australia, targeted at those working people who had mortgages, who were affected and impacted by the global inflation issue that had led to interest rate increases. What they came back with was that by far, by far the most effective way, was to target the tax cuts that had been allocated and factored in, of $106 billion, by reallocating them to deliver for middle Australia. That was what we were prepared to do. And it was also good economic policy, because whereas low and middle income earners, as opposed to politicians, who if we had a bigger tax cut would be able to just save more money, they will spend it. But it's not inflationary because Treasury found, and the Reserve Bank agreed, that what will occur is an extra 930,000 hours being worked each week, it will help the labour market, it will help the supply of labour as well, which is one of the other issues in our economy. Now, that's why we did it. Peter Dutton continued to oppose it, even though they voted for it because they voted for it because of politics. Everything with the Opposition is always about politics. What we'll do is do the right thing, each and every day, every week. That's the focus of my Government. That will be the focus of our Government in the lead-up to the Budget and beyond.
JOURNALIST: If there is a change in this by-election, will you take that as either people aren't listening to the messages about the stage three tax cuts, that you haven't got cut through, or that people don't think it's enough and that you haven't been doing enough to help people?
PRIME MINISTER: There's an average swing against governments in by-election since the Hawke Government of 7.1 per cent. The margin here 6.3. That's just the maths.
JOURNALIST: But won't there have to be a reason for that?
PRIME MINISTER: That's just the maths. We have been massively outspent in this campaign, not just by the Liberal Party, but by their partners in the negative, far-right wing campaign, which has sought to promote fear and negativity, added to the fear and negativity of the modern Liberal Party. They have thrown hundreds of thousands of dollars, funded by billionaires, in this campaign. We've seen people in this electorate get swamped on Facebook and on all of the advertising that's taken place, with misinformation, with fear. I don't want Australia to go down that polarised road that we see, frankly, in the United States. Let's call it out for what it is. I do not want Australia to do that. The Liberal Party under Peter Dutton, with their alliances, when I mentioned Advance this weekend, they got very upset in the Parliament. That is, of course, not surprising. Because they're working hand-in-hand in the same messages. We've had now, Parliament sitting for three weeks this year, but all throughout last year. The number of questions that were asked about cost of living, about practical measures from the Opposition, you don't have to go past one hand on any day. On any day. It's all about fear, all about negativity, all about misinformation. And that's not the way to advance a country. The way that you advance a country is by policies that are really embodied by the person standing next to me here today, Jodie. Someone who's positive, someone who looks for a way to make a difference, and someone who has made a difference to disadvantaged people in this community.
JOURNALIST: Do you think those Advance, that campaign, will have an impact on voters today?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Of course, it has an impact. And people will, though, I think over a period of time, people are going to look at Peter Dutton, as they are, increasingly, and go, 'Okay, mate, you're negative. You say what you're against. What are you for?' We had someone, I got asked yesterday at the press conference, I got asked, 'Well, the Liberal Party have said they have an alternative tax plan'. Okay, what is it? What is it? Are they going to? Because in the amendments they moved in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, they spoke about the principles of stage three. You know what that means? 12 million Australians getting an increase in their taxes if the Liberals get elected. The last time they were elected from opposition in 2013, they came in the 2014 Budget and they increased taxes. They brought in a new levy that they didn't speak about beforehand. They brought in, or tried to, bring in a GP tax. $7 every time you visited a doctor. They tried to bring in a new tax every time you or your kids ended up in an emergency department. They tried to bring in increases in pharmaceutical costs. That's what Peter Dutton did as Health Minister, why he was voted the worst Health Minister in Australian history. Well, Australians need something positive. Australians need a government that stands up for them, that looks for the practical difference that we can make. That's what we did with our tax cuts. $107 billion that will give the average worker in this electorate more than double. That will make sure that people earning under $45,000 get an incentive to work more by getting a tax cut as well and not missing out. Thanks very much.