I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
It is such a pleasure to be with you all tonight – with the membership of a union that has made such a real difference in the life and health of our nation.
A union whose ranks are made strong by heroes of the pandemic.
I would particularly like to acknowledge National Secretary Lloyd Williams and National President Gerard Hayes.
Leadership is challenging enough when things are relatively easy.
We’ve seen your leadership put to the test when things have been anything but easy.
During that unprecedented crisis, we saw you and this entire movement continue to serve the Australian people with dedication and compassion.
A core part of our agenda is building the stronger economy that makes possible everything else that we need to do – for the benefit of your members, and for all Australians.
We’ve turned the Coalition’s decade long chain of deficits into back-to-back Labor surpluses.
We’ve dragged inflation down from the 6.1 per cent we inherited from the Liberal and National parties to less than half of that today.
We’ve made medicines cheaper and boosted bulk-billing at the doctors.
We’ve opened 76 free Medicare Urgent Care Clinics around the country.
We’ve made childcare cheaper.
We’ve given tax cuts to every worker.
We’ve introduced energy bill relief for every household.
We’ve made TAFE free for hundreds of thousands of Australians.
And, importantly, we’ve got wages moving again.
During the campaign I was asked if I supported a wage rise for our lowest-paid workers.
My answer was unequivocal: “Absolutely.”
And I held up a dollar coin.
A dollar coin might not be much on its own, but it told you a whole lot about the Coalition when they went into rage over it.
My Government has supported a pay rise for our lowest paid workers three years running.
I was deeply touched a couple of years back when aged care and retail worker Grace presented me with a dollar coin, mounted next to a plaque bearing the word “Absolutely”. I keep it on my desk as a reminder.
That one-word election promise has been translated into a reality for millions of workers.
Real wages have grown more in the past year alone than they did for the decade the Coalition was in power.
Never forget that keeping wages low was a central part of their economic plan – just as it will be if they ever get back into power.
Their ideology blinds them to reality. And the reality is that since our election, we have demonstrated that wages growth and job creation can go together.
Since the Australian people put their trust in Labor on election day in 2022, 1 million new jobs have been created. A record for any first-term government.
The participation rate is up.
The gender pay gap is down – to a record low of 11.5 per cent.
The number of women employed is up. The number of women in jobs and working full time is also a record.
Since 1 July, every Australian taxpayer has enjoyed a tax cut – not just the Liberals’ chosen handful of high-income earners.
Under the Liberals, so many of your members wouldn’t have seen a cent.
Under Labor, they can earn more and keep more of what they earn.
Workers have the Right to Disconnect, because no matter how much you love your job, no employer has the right to pressure you to work for free.
We know there is more work to do and we’re staying focused on delivering meaningful relief.
Your union has been at the forefront of one of our proudest changes of all.
A payrise for our aged care workers.
A payrise for the very people we depend on for the wellbeing and dignified comfort of so many of our oldest Australians.
A payrise for the people who are helping to shape the system that will ultimately touch so many of us.
I am proud to lead the Labor Government that worked alongside you.
I am proud to lead the Labor Government that has the back of your members.
And I am proud to lead the Labor Government that made it a priority to walk the talk and fund the aged care work value case that helped deliver this outcome.
Stage one of this case delivered a 15 per cent pay rise to direct care workers in aged care in July last year – just over a year after we were elected.
And a further series of increases delivered pay rises of up to another 13 per cent, meaning that some workers will have received increases of 28 per cent
This would never have occurred if we hadn’t committed to fund it.
If you want an example of what happens when the labour movement comes together with united purpose, the HSU and the Federal Labor Government have provided a leading example.
There is also an award review process underway examining whether classifications in 5 awards – including the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Award – have been undervalued on the basis of gender.
This process is directly the result of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay legislation that we introduced during our first year in office.
Like Same Job, Same Pay, the Right to Disconnect, new minimum standards for gig workers and rights for casuals our focus on fairness in sectors where women make up the majority of workers will change lives for the better.
The truth is that we can never be all we can be as a nation until we have gender equality.
And as the proud leader of the first Australian government in which women make up the majority, I can tell you that is a truth that drives us forward every single day.
Friends, take a moment to consider everything we have fought for together.
Everything we have achieved.
And, because we never pause to rest on our laurels, all the things we are working to achieve in the future.
All of it will be under threat if the Coalition gets back into power.
To Peter Dutton, the fair go is just one more thing to cut.
Peter Dutton’s overpowering instinct is to push for Australians work longer for less – so nothing is more baffling to him than a union.
Except perhaps improving Medicare.
So a union that fights so hard to improve our health system threatens his entire world view.
After a decade of Liberal cuts and neglect, we are getting bulk billing back on track.
Here’s a quick quiz for you. Guess who was in charge when the last Liberal Government launched its attack on Medicare?
I’ll give you the big tip. The doctors of Australia voted him the worst Health Minister ever.
Peter Dutton.
Through his whole time as Minister for Health he had one idea – making sick people pay more.
A GP tax. A hospital tax. A medicine tax.
And a six-year freeze on Medicare rebates.
The ultimate measure of how bad Peter Dutton was at his job is that he was sacked … by Tony Abbott. That takes some doing.
If the Liberals’ history on Medicare is terrible, the risk they pose in the future is even worse. We already know they’re planning cuts.
Peter Dutton has gone on the record before about wanting to slash the number of free Medicare services.
Medicare is one place Peter Dutton is actually guaranteed to go nuclear.
There’s only one sure way to keep Medicare strong – keep Labor strong in Government.
One of the real positives that emerged out of the last few years has been a newfound appreciation for the workers who make up the health and care sector.
Your members are a core part of a successful society at the best of times. And you made all the difference during our most challenging times.
We owe a debt of gratitude to your membership. But gratitude is not enough.
To get the big things done and deliver the change your extraordinary, hardworking members deserve, what’s needed is more than thank you.
You need a Labor Government.
And you need the HSU.
Both of us, working hard, every day, to build a better future for all Australians.
Together we’ve achieved so much – and there’s so much more we can deliver for Australia in the years to come.
I wish you a great conference.