Next week’s Budget will wipe around $3 billion from student HECS debt. This will make a real difference for around 3 million Australians.

A student with an average HECS debt of about $26,000, will have their HECS debt cut by about by about $1200.

Someone with a HECS debt of $40,000 will see a cut of about $1800.

This is a really big and important reform that will make HECS fairer.

And it will apply to everyone with a HECS debt, just as our tax cuts will help every single taxpayer.

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

I do want to take a moment this morning to express my heartfelt sorrow to the parents of Callum and Jake Robinson. 

Their beloved sons have been murdered in Mexico. 

And right now they are trying to come to terms with what is every parent’s nightmare.

I join with all Australians in offering them my deepest sympathies and condolences.

The Albanese Government will deliver a generational investment to find new deposits of minerals and sources of energy to help build a Future Made in Australia, as part of a big focus on resources in next week’s Budget.

The Budget will show that the Government will invest $566.1 million over ten years from 2024-25 to deliver data, maps and other tools for use by the resources industry that will point the way to new discoveries, power our economy and commit to the full mapping of Australia over the next generation.

Agriculture is the lifeblood of the nation, and Queensland is a great beef producing state.

It’s been terrific this week to meet beef producers and their families in Rockhampton and hear how optimistic people are about the future of their industry.

This industry has experienced some difficult times in the past.

But Australian beef is flying off the shelves and flying to markets around the world. Export volumes and value are up. Volumes increased by 33% between July 2023 and February 2024. Value increased by 17%.

ANDREA CROTHERS, HOST: Welcome back. You're watching Beef TV live from the beef capital. And here from the bush capital is the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Thank you for coming on Beef TV.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Great to be here. What a fantastic event this is.

CROTHERS: A nice weather change?

I’m delighted to join with all of you in celebrating the biggest and oldest cattle company in our country.

A major operator, employer and exporter here in Central Queensland.

And an extraordinary contributor to Australia’s national success for two centuries.

Can I thank Beef Australia’s Chair, Bryce Camm, the Board of Directors, the CEO, Simon Irwin, and everyone involved with organising Beef Australia 2024.

This is such a great event for Central Queensland, and for the cattle industry across our nation.

BRYCE CAMM, BEEF AUSTRALIA CHAIR: Ladies and gentlemen, can I welcome you all to Rockhampton, the nation's beef capital, here to celebrate Beef Australia 2024. It is my great pleasure as Chairman of Beef Australia to welcome the Prime Minister of the nation, Honourable Anthony Albanese, here today. Your ministers, Minister Watt for Agriculture and Minister King for Northern Australia.

JEREMY JONES, HOST: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived in Rockhampton. He's going to have a tour of Beef today and he's brought along some money for the industry in an announcement this morning, and he joins you now. Good morning, Prime Minister.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. What a beautiful day it is here in Rocky.

JONES: Yeah, it certainly is. Prime Minister, what are you expecting to see at Beef today?

The Albanese Government is making critical investments in Western Sydney which will cement its future as a hub for growth and a place of opportunity.

We are committing $1.9 billion towards 14 new projects and providing additional funding for two existing projects.

These projects will help underpin the fundamental shift of jobs and growth to Sydney’s west.

Our new investments include construction projects, as well as planning projects, to ensure we lay the ground work for a pipeline of future road investments, which are properly scoped, designed and costed.

The Albanese Labor Government will invest a record $519.1 million in Future Drought Fund programs to help farmers and regional communities prepare for the next drought and build climate resilience.

The previous Fund under the Morrison Government did not acknowledge climate change as a driver of longer and more severe droughts. Today we have fixed this.

Labor has restructured the Fund and its objectives to get better results for farming families and communities and will provide record funding for it in next week’s Budget.