Cost-of-living issues will be front and centre as federal parliament returns for this year’s final two sitting weeks.
Labor will ask voters who will make them better off, as they launch an attack on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s previous stances on wages, taxes and power bill relief.
Economic figures show households across the country are continuing to feel hip pocket pain.
With inflation and economic struggles proving an undeniable issue in the US election, it’s likely Australians will also be asked in the lead up to next year’s federal election if they are better off now than four years ago.
Labor minister and Leader of the House Tony Burke said: “We’ll always back Australians who want to get ahead, while helping deal with the cost of living.”
There are dozens of pieces of legislation to be considered in the next fortnight.
Electoral reform is expected to be introduced after the Albanese government worked through a number of changes with the coalition.
However, the government’s bill targeting misinformation and disinformation has few friends.
The coalition is opposed to it, the Greens have labelled it “pretty average”, while independent senator David Pocock says it doesn’t strike the right balance.
There will be five valedictory speeches in the lower house this week, including NDIS Minister and former Labor leader Bill Shorten, who is retiring from politics in February.
The others include Labor’s Michelle Ananda-Rajah, Liberal MPs Nola Marino and Rowan Ramsey, as well as Nationals MP Mark Coulton.
The government also wants to pass legislation to increase the salaries of early childhood workers in addition to providing relief for Australians burdened with university debt.
Legislation to keep fee-free TAFE places available will also be debated.
In the upper house, aged care reforms to make wealthier Australians pay more of their costs in a bid to make the system more sustainable, is expected to pass.
The government also plans to introduce legislation to ban children under the age of 16 from social media.
