Today is 1 July, and, from today, Australians will start to see more energy bill relief coming their way: power bill rebates of $300 for every household and $325 for one million small businesses. All 65,000 homes in my community of Jagajaga, from Bundoora and Watsonia to Eltham and Research, from Macleod to Heidelberg West and Ivanhoe—every household—will receive a $300 power bill rebate, starting from today, and so will every household right across Australia. One million small businesses, Australia-wide, will receive a $325 power bill rebate too, delivering direct support for small businesses, including the 14,000 small businesses in Jagajaga. If you’re a homeowner or a small business owner, you will see this energy bill relief applied directly to the bills you receive from your energy provider over the course of this financial year. You don’t have to do anything. You will see this money being applied—being taken off your bill.
This builds on the work we did earlier, in our last budget, to give energy bill relief for certain households. With this measure, we are extending that relief to every Australian household. For Victorians, for people in Jagajaga, our government’s energy bill relief builds on successive rounds of the Victorian government’s Power Saving Bonus, another great program that helps people in my community save money and, at the same time, ensure that they are getting the best possible deal on their energy bills. This is work we are doing to directly support Australians, because we know that times are difficult at the moment. We know that costs are high, and we are directly supporting households with $300 off their energy bill.
We also know that those opposite didn’t want this. In fact, when they had the opportunity, they voted against measures that would have kept power bills lower. So we know where their loyalties lie. They don’t lie with providing cost-of-living relief. They don’t lie with keeping power bills lower. They lie elsewhere, not with Australians who need the support right now.
This energy bill relief is just one part of a whole suite of our government’s cost-of-living support rolling out from today: tax cuts for every single Australian taxpayer; a freeze on the cost of PBS medicines for every Australian; a third consecutive pay rise for 2.6 million workers; more funding to build more homes in every part of the country; and—and this one is a personal favourite of mine—an additional two weeks of paid parental leave kicking in. That builds on work our government has already done to make childcare cheaper and to expand fee-free TAFE, and, of course, our biggest-ever investment in bulk-billing. We’ve increased Commonwealth rent assistance by a further 15 per cent. We’ve wiped almost $3 billion in student debt.
This is real cost-of-living relief. It is tangible. It is for every person in Jagajaga and it is for every person across this country, because, as I have said, our government does understand that this is a difficult time for many Australians. We are doing the work we want to do and we need to do, to support Australians at this difficult time. We know that there is still more work to be done. We are working hard to deliver on our economic plan, helping Australians right now with the measures that I have just outlined, while also being very clear that we are working on bringing down inflation and planning for the future—particularly with our Future Made in Australia plan, to manufacture more here and make sure we get the benefits of the transition to clean energy in this country.
I am very pleased that from today, 1 July, people in my community will start to see the rollout of our government’s latest measures to help with the cost of living. All 77,000 taxpayers in Jagajaga will receive a tax cut, with an average tax cut in our community of $1,782. Our plan delivers a bigger tax cut for lower- and middle-income earners while ensuring that everyone still receives a tax cut. Plus, we’re increasing the Medicare levy for low-income thresholds. One million taxpayers will continue to be exempt from the Medicare levy or pay a reduced levy rate. As I’ve said, from today people will start to see that energy bill relief applied directly to their bills, with $300 off those bills, and $325 off for small businesses. This is real, direct, tangible support. This is supporting Australians with cost-of-living relief.
