DELIVERING REAL CHANGE

CANBERRA, ACT, July 23 -- The Prime Minister of Australia issued the following media release:

Thank you, Mali, for your warm South Australian welcome, your leadership of this great state and - at a personal level - your friendship.

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

State and Territory Labor Leaders.

My Federal team, led by the best Deputy Prime Minister anyone could ask for, Richard Marles.

And led in the Senate by two great South Australians: Penny Wong and Don Farrell.

To our new President - another proud South Australian - Kate Ellis.

And our National Secretary Paul Erickson and your fantastic crew.

Thank you for all the work that you have put into this year's conference, our 50th in our 135th year - Australia's oldest and greatest political party.

And Paul, thank you for the magnificent effort you put into last year's campaign.

Backed - every step of the way - by the mighty trade union movement of Australia.

And by the passion and dedication of the true believers in our rank and file.

All of us who have the honour to serve in the Parliamentary Labor Party stand on your shoulders.

We are a better government - and Australia is a better country - because of your lifetimes of service to advancing the rights and opportunities and aspirations of working people.

And so much of the progress and reform we have delivered over the past four years, began with you and the Australians that you represent, grounded in their workplaces, their lives and their determination to pass on a better future to their children.

Thank you for what you do.

Delegates

Through 50 National Conferences over 125 years of Federation, this is only the 15th time we have gathered with Federal Labor in majority government.

Now that tells you something about the history we made together last year.

And it speaks to the responsibility and the opportunity we have now.

The responsibility to continue helping people under pressure.

The responsibility to guide our nation through this time of significant global uncertainty.

And the opportunity to build something better beyond it.

The opportunity for Australia to do more than weather this global storm of conflict and crisis, but to emerge from it a fairer and stronger and more resilient country.

A country with a growing and productive economy that works for people, not the other way around.

We have the opportunity to reject - once and for all - the failed ideology which said it was smart and rational to cut TAFE, close our refineries and send manufacturing jobs offshore, because someone else, somewhere else, would sell us what we needed.

And instead, make the most of our resources - and make more things here.

To build up the skills and energy and self-reliance of our nation.

And to lift up the talent and hard work and aspiration of our people.

So that we are not just better prepared for the next challenge the world throws at us, we are better placed to seize and shape and share the opportunities that the world holds for us.

To make the transformative changes underway around the globe - from clean energy to Artificial Intelligence - work for all Australians.

That is the test of our time.

And, delegates, it is a mission made for our labour movement - for our ambition and our determination.

And for our eternal values of fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all.

Because Australia can only seize this moment, if every Australian can reach for it.

We can only realise our true potential as a nation, when every Australian has the chance to realise theirs.

I understand that for many Australians right now, looking to the future runs second to the immediate pressures they are under.

The last decade has inflicted one global shock after another.

And people have been given every reason to feel like the economy is simply not working for them.

That goes deeper than sentiment, it's a reality people are up against.

It is a challenge confronting governments and democracies right around the world.

That is why our focus remains squarely on helping with the cost of living, on the practical measures that matter to people and make a positive difference to their lives.

Because that is how we demonstrate to Australians that their hard work will pay off, that their effort is worth it, that they can plan and build for their future.

And it is how we prove that the status quo is not set in stone.

That problems can be solved.

That faults in the system can be fixed.

That Labor is delivering the real change Australians deserve.

Delegates

We can make that case to each other.

But we all know the true meaning of real change is beyond these walls and outside the political debate.

It's every worker who sees their wages rise.

Every Australian getting another tax cut.

Every family that can see a doctor for free.

Every first home buyer getting a fair crack.

Every opportunity being embraced at Free TAFE.

Every family and small business cutting their power bills with rooftop solar and a battery.

Every steel worker at Whyalla.

And it is every student, in every school in every state and every territory receiving the full and fair funding they need to thrive.

Delivering real change means strengthening Medicare.

A year after I took this little card all around our country, there are another 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics open.

And in every one of our 137 clinics, in the regions and the suburbs, this bit of green and gold plastic is all that you need.

56 Medicare Mental Health Centres have been added to the frontline.

And 33 Endo and Pelvic Pain Clinics, part of the biggest-ever investment in women's health.

And thousands of GPs, trusted by millions of Australians, have switched to bulk-billing every patient, every time.

All of which means the last year has seen the biggest jump in the bulk-billing rate this century and the lowest prices for medicines on the PBS since 2004, just $25.

And since the 1st of July, the landmark agreement we secured with every state and territory government is putting record funding into public hospitals.

We are investing right across our world-class health system - and we are backing the extraordinary people who work in it.

Just over a year ago, we created Paid Prac.

Financial support for Australians studying to be nurses and midwives, as well as teachers and social workers, paid while they undertake their training placements.

This is one of those reforms where it is hard to believe that it didn't already exist.

I've heard from students who had to go straight from their hospital placement to their part-time job, just to pay the rent.

Others who had to move back home to get through.

Paid Prac has changed their life.

And today we build on its success.

Today I announce we will expand Paid Prac to physio and occupational therapy, clinical psychology, pharmacy and podiatry, speech pathology, audiology radiography, rehab therapies and our future paramedics.

Real help with the cost of living for tens of thousands of Australians.

And a real investment in the health care workers of tomorrow.

This is how Labor governs.

We deal with the here and now in a way that builds for the future too.

We navigate the rough seas, while always keeping our eyes on the horizon.

You've seen this same characteristic of our government, through the global fuel crisis,

When the conflict in the Middle East caused the biggest spike in petrol and diesel prices in history we acted to help Australians under pressure, working with the states and territories to cut fuel taxes.

And - importantly - working with industry and our partners in our region to secure shiploads of additional petrol, diesel, jet fuel and fertiliser.

So our farmers had the security to plant their crops.

So our miners and tradies could keep our economy going.

And not only did we make sure our truckies could stay on the road we changed the law to make sure they got fair pay for their work.

And right through March and April, while our opponents were saying that travelling to Asia was a waste of time and petrol rationing was days away.

We were building up our reserves.

Meaning there is more fuel in Australia today than when the conflict in the Middle East began.

And we will have more security into the future as well.

Because we are making more clean fuels here.

We are building a government-owned strategic fuel reserve.

And the first ship in our strategic fleet is now on the water.

Delegates

For all the progress we take pride in together, we know there is more to do and further to go.

There always is.

That's what drives us - and always has.

Right back to when the founders of our movement were confronted by unfairness in the workplace.

Inequality in society.

And structural problems in the economy.

They didn't pretend that the answer was to tear everything down and walk away.

They understood then - as we do now - that people's genuine frustrations deserve a practical response, not just an emotional one.

Because a list of problems only counts for something if it comes with solutions.

And while you can go a long way in politics, for a long time by raging against a system that you are a part of, without a plan to fix it.

Or blaming people who cannot defend themselves for a problem they did not cause.

That doesn't build anything.

It doesn't change anything.

It doesn't take our country forward.

It doesn't help anyone find a job, pay their bills, or put a roof over their head.

This has always been the fundamental contrast between Labor and all our political opponents.

And never more so than now.

Because beyond One Nation's personality clashes, policy confusion, conspiracy theories and candidate chaos and regardless of who leads the Liberals to the next election.

In every way that matters, the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation are already a Coalition.

It's not just that they need each other to form Government.

They agree with each other about what they want to do in Government.

They all want to cut wages.

They all want to scrap Paid Parental Leave.

They all want to make it easier to sack workers.

They all want to make it harder for young Australians to buy a home.

They all want to slash the jobs and industries powered by renewables - and spend billions on nuclear reactors instead.

And they all want to cut Medicare.

And everything else, all those attention-seeking culture wars imported from overseas, all those trips around the world to talk Australia down cannot disguise the fact that none of them have anything new or positive to offer our country.

In the Labor Party, we travel by a different road.

We choose progress over protest.

We choose purpose over chaos.

We choose unity over division.

We choose outcomes over outrage.

We choose real change that makes a real difference.

Delegates

For all the passion that we bring to our debates at Conference.

We know that the measure of our movement is not the words we put in to our platform it is the progress and reform and rights that flow out of it.

The real change we deliver, as a result of it.

And for all of us, that always begins with a fair go at work.

For a decade, 6 months of Paid Parental Leave was a goal in our platform.

Today, it is the law of the land.

And, for the first time, superannuation is paid on top.

In remote communities, the CDP has been abolished - and replaced with thousands of real jobs for real wages.

Penalty rates and overtime pay are protected by law.

Superannuation is paid, on pay day.

Wage theft is now a crime.

And after decades of union campaigning workers aged 18, 19 and 20 are finally being paid like the adults that they are.

We are delivering the historic wage increases our aged care workers and early educators deserve part of the reason that the gender pay gap is at an all-time low.

And today, right around our country.

People in factories and warehouses, meatworks and mine sites, flight attendants and ground crew are being paid tens of thousands of dollars more, every year.

Because we changed the law.

So that if you work the same rosters, wear the same uniform, perform the same tasks, with the same skills, if you do the Same Job, you get the Same Pay.

Our commitment to a fair day's work for a fair day's wage is older than Federation.

And we have always understood that while you can write fairness into law, justice depends on the law being upheld.

Yet there are still too many of the most vulnerable workers in this country being illegally underpaid because they cannot access or afford the justice they are owed.

Australians who have been underpaid by hundreds, even thousands, of dollars but simply do not have the time or the resources to navigate the legal system.

Or are told their case will take months even years to resolve, and cost them more than their claim is worth.

That is just wrong.

And we are going to fix it.

Today I announce that our Government will create the Fair Work Court.

Headed by expert judges, working seamlessly with the Fair Work Commission.

This will resolve disputes faster and at lower cost - for both employees and employers.

Good for workers. Good for business. Good for the country.

Delegates

Our enduring commitment to the fair go is also how we meet the new challenges and opportunities of Artificial Intelligence.

Right now, global investors are knocking on Australia's door.

And that gives us the chance to determine what AI looks like here.

This technology is already part of our daily lives.

We can't stop it - and we wouldn't want to.

But we can shape it - and we have to.

Our prosperity, our sovereignty and our national security depend on it.

That is why our Government will legislate clear, mandatory, Australian standards for AI.

Making sure data centres minimise their water use.

Put more renewable energy into our grid.

And do not compete with new housing.

We will provide the strongest possible protections for Australian artists, writers, musicians and journalists.

Because their creative endeavour is their property.

And if a tech company takes someone's art or music or writing or journalism without their permission that is not 'training' - it is theft.

I know there are real concerns about how fast AI is moving and the disruption it might bring.

And we can only manage that and protect ourselves if Australia is active and confident in shaping this change.

That means investing in our people and their skills and capacity.

Bringing the same ambition that drives our agenda for A Future Made in Australia.

So we are more than a warehouse for ideas made overseas, or the last link in the digital supply chain.

Securing long-term growth, not a short-term boom.

Empowering workers, not replacing them.

Creating good jobs with fair wages, not undercutting them.

We cannot leave this up to companies or individuals to figure out on their own.

We all have a stake.

We are all involved.

It will take all of us working together, to get this right.

And that is exactly what our Labor Government will do.

Delegates

In April 1904, when the new Prime Minister Chris Watson and his Labor colleagues took their spots on the government benches of the Federal Parliament for the first time, Sir John Forrest stared across at them from the other side of the chamber and said to his Tory colleagues:

"What are those fellows doing in our places? Those are our seats!"

They've never really got over it, have they?

Our opponents have never been able to accept the legitimacy of a Labor Government.

They think we should know our place.

They have never been able to accept that the trade union movement is central to the health and strength of our democracy.

Because they have never believed that the working people of Australia deserve a say in the shape of our economy and the future of our society.

That's why - for them - every increase in wages is always the end of the world.

Any improvement in workers' rights is a sign of the apocalypse.

They say that every cost of living measure is a waste.

And they see every change to the status quo as an outrage.

That is why they are so offended by our reforms to rebalance the tax system.

To better align the way the system deals with income earned from work and wages, compared to income from selling assets.

Because we know that the vast majority of Australians have nothing to sell but their time, nothing to give but their hard work.

That's how they make a living - one hour of effort after another.

That's how they provide for their family and put food on the table.

They work their guts out, every single day.

Cleaning offices before the sun comes up.

Stacking shelves at night.

Teaching our children in schools.

Looking after our parents in aged care.

They're nurses and police officers and fireys and paramedics, keeping our communities safe.

And all the hard yakka they put in, every sacrifice they make, everything they give up and go without, is so their children can have a better life with greater opportunity.

These are the people our party was created to serve.

They are Australians you stand up for, every day.

They deserve lower taxes.

That's why we are cutting them.

They deserve higher wages.

That's why we are backing them.

And these hard-working Australians deserve the opportunity to buy their own home.

Which is why, after 25 years of Howard and Costello tax breaks for property investors pushing home ownership out of reach, we have reformed negative gearing and capital gains tax.

Under Labor, for the first time in a generation, first home buyers are getting a fair crack.

This was not the easy option - but it was absolutely the right thing to do.

Because when everyone knows the system is not working.

When everyone can see that it is not fair or reasonable or sustainable for a generation of Australians to be locked out of the housing market.

The choice for a party of Government is crystal clear.

You can make excuses for a broken status quo.

You can kick the can down the road and leave the problem for someone else to solve.

Or you can take responsibility, you can take action.

You can back home ownership and aspiration for all Australians - not just some.

And that is exactly what we are doing.

Of course, we're doing that beyond housing.

We're taking action in so many areas where reform has been put off for too long, or progress has been too slow.

Acting on climate change and protecting our environment.

Closing the gap.

Repairing the budget.

Restoring our relationships in the region.

Fixing employment services.

Leading new action to eliminate the scourge of family and domestic violence.

And securing the future of the NDIS, so it can continue to change lives.

Hard choices. Hard work.

But the right thing to do - now and for the future.

That is the Labor way.

Delegates

Our Australian values drive us to deliver real change - and they guide us as we deal with an uncertain world.

From our first day in Government, we have been investing in our capabilities and our relationships.

We are building our sovereignty in defence - with record investment in tens of thousands of defence manufacturing jobs, including right here in South Australia.

We are building the social cohesion and national unity that is essential to our national security.

And we are building new and deeper partnerships beyond our borders.

A landmark security treaty with Indonesia.

New security agreements with the EU, Canada and India.

And a proud update we can make to this year's platform.

Through 125 years of Federation, Australia has had two allies: the United States of America and New Zealand.

In the last year, we have doubled that number.

Under Labor, Australia has re-engaged as a partner and leader in the Pacific.

And because we are working with our Pacific family to meet the challenge of climate change and seize the opportunities of clean energy.

Because in a time of strategic competition in our region, Australia is both an advocate for peace and a security partner of choice.

Two of our nearest neighbours - Papua New Guinea and Fiji - are now our newest allies.

Delegates, I conclude with this.

Lifetimes of change separate this 50th National Conference from our first.

Yet like the new nation it served, even the very first Labor Government was not a "monoculture".

There were Protestants and Catholics, English, Irish and Scots.

One was an American pretending to be Canadian and no-one was sure if the Leader was born in New Zealand or Chile.

For all of that, those men could never have contemplated a Labor Government Caucus room with a majority of women.

Or a roll call of: Abdo, Albanese, Aly, Ambihaipahar, Ananda-Rajah and Ayres.

And that's just the letter A.

They might have been more comfortable with a union leadership team of O'Neil and McManus, but Michele and Sally would have come as a shock.

125 years on, our party and our movement are more open, more democratic, more diverse and more equal.

Just like Australia.

We are more at home in our region - and more confident in the world.

Just like Australia.

We embrace the fullness and richness of our own history, the privilege we have to share this ancient continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth.

Just like Australia.

We have been enriched by people of every faith and background and tradition.

Just like Australia.

We have gained and grown from their ideas and their energy, and every bit as importantly from their loyalty to our shared values and their pride in our common cause.

Just like Australia.

And we are stronger and smarter, we are braver and better because of all of that.

Just like Australia.

Labor has changed because Australia has changed.

And because our movement has had the kindness and courage to drive that change and shape it, in the interests of all.

To make progress real for people.

To make reform work for people.

That is the mission that every Labor generation has made our own.

It is the task we carry forward now.

The work all of us must take from this Conference to the country we love.

Bringing aspiration in reach of all Australians.

Creating opportunity for all Australians.

Delivering real change for all Australians.

Thank you delegates.

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.