ADDRESS TO THE VICTORIAN LABOR CONFERENCE | MELBOURNE

 

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Delegates, thank you.

 

Let me start by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to their elders, past and present.

Catherine, thank you for that very warm introduction. Can I acknowledge you, and through you all of my federal parliamentary colleagues.

Can I acknowledge Jacinta Allan and Ben Carroll, the Premier and Deputy Premier of Victoria, and through them, all of my state parliamentary colleagues.

I’d like to acknowledge all the representatives of the trade union movement here and every Delegate to this conference.

Delegates, it is genuinely a delight to be here today, because this is the first time that we have gathered since the 3rd of May – and what a remarkable day that was.

The re-election of the Albanese Labor Government was a wonderful moment. But the terms of that re-election were both fundamental and astounding.

This is the largest number of seats that we have ever won at a federal election.

Proportionately, it is the single biggest defeat of the Australian conservative movement ever.

We won 94 seats in the House of Representatives, but we, in fact, on a two party preferred basis, finished ahead of the Liberals in 100 seats.

Now, to put that in context, our greatest ever election victory, that of John Curtin in 1943 at the height of the Second World War — were you to translate that into a parliament of today’s size —  would represent achieving that in 98 seats.

And when you consider the difference in the historic moment, when you consider that we were a first term government — no first term government of any political persuasion has ever increased its parliamentary majority since Federation.

This really was a result that was achieved against the historic run of play. This represents one of the greatest victories in Australian Labor’s history.

Here in Victoria, we went into the election holding 24 of 39 seats. We came out of it holding 27 of 38. We’ve increased our representation. Our two party preferred vote in this state was 56%.

All of this enshrines Victoria as Australian Labor’s home base.

And taken together, all of this means that it is undoubtedly the most historic election that any of us have participated in.

But let me say that none of this is said from a self-congratulatory place of hubris. In fact, quite the opposite. The size of this election win only adds to the privilege and the responsibility, which now is upon us.

This election result is the aggregation of millions of individual decisions that were made by Australians across the country. It really is the verdict of the nation, and it is a verdict that we must receive with humility and respect, and it is a verdict which provides no guarantee about any future election outcome.

We will not be taking the Australian people for granted.

In fact, again, to the contrary, this is an example of what happens at the ballot box when you place the interests of the Australian people at the heart of your agenda.

Tackling the cost of living, providing tax cuts across the board, providing energy bill relief, making childcare more affordable.

We will be delivering on the entirety of the agenda that we took to this election. Indeed, we’ve already begun.

In the first parliamentary fortnight we’ve introduced, over the last two weeks, a bill into the Parliament to cut student debt by 20%. We’ve introduced a bill to cap PBS medicines at just $25 a script.

And precisely because our agenda is focused on the Australian people, this is a deeply Labor agenda.

We are a government which has made same job, same pay the law of the land. That has put tens of thousands of dollars into the hands of workers who were experiencing injustices in their employment.

Our very first step as a government was to seek an increase in the minimum wage beyond inflation. And then we did it again and again and again.

And we’ve sought wage increases in other low paid sectors, such as aged care and child care —  feminized industries such that today, the gender pay gap is the lowest on record.

And taken against the backdrop of a decade of Coalition real wage decline, today in Australia, we have real wage growth. That is a policy which is built upon increasing the wages of the lowest paid first.

And we’re continuing this work as well over this term.

Over the last two weeks, we’ve introduced a bill into Parliament which will see us enshrine into law penalty rates.

We’re a government which has increased Newstart. We’re a government which has increased commonwealth rent assistance. We are a government which is fully funding Gonski. We are a government which is increasing bulk billing rates, returning that to the centre of our Medicare system. And we are a government which is meaningfully acting on climate change.

In everything we do to our very bootstraps, we are a government which is rooted in the great traditions of our party and the broader labour movement.

And we are a government worth fighting for, and you fought for it. And it is a reminder of the very importance of being in government.

Lives are transformed for the better when Labor forms governments, and we formed government by never making it about us and always making it about the Australian people. And by contesting and winning the centre.

Now, as we stand humbly before the Australian people, at another level, I also stand with humility before you.

I know that I speak on behalf of all of my parliamentary colleagues when I say we only get to do what we do because of you. And for that, we owe you an enormous debt of gratitude.

I think this election victory was a reflection of Anthony Albanese’s wonderful leadership of our government.

I also believe it was a reflection of the unity of the parliamentary team standing behind him.

But in so many ways this election victory was your victory.

It was your victory because of the more than 215,000 conversations that you had with Victorians across the state. It was your victory because of the countless hours that you spent on polling booths. It was your victory because of your hard work and because of your passion.

And I am, we are deeply grateful. Thank you.

Because of you, there is now a historic opportunity — an opportunity to govern for the next three years, but an opportunity that, if we ground in the hopes and the aspirations of Victorians and Australians, an opportunity that if we focus on improving people’s lives, on strengthening our nation, in building a fairer and better Australia, well Delegates, this is an opportunity to fundamentally and profoundly transform the character of Australian politics.

Delegates, this is an opportunity that we will not miss.

 

ENDS