1 July Changes

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Today is an important day because today is 1 July and a great number of cost-of-living relief measures are coming into effect today. I want to talk about an example family and the benefits that they might receive as a result of these measures. We'll call them Emily and Nick. Emily is a retail worker on the minimum wage, and Nick is an electrician. They are living in my electorate of Canberra, and they are about to welcome their first child.

Emily, as someone on the minimum award wage, will today be getting a pay rise of about $2,000 a year as a result of the Fair Work Commission decision that was pushed for by our government. Today, Emily will be keeping an extra $870 and Nick will be keeping an extra $1,929 of their own earnings as part of our bigger and fairer tax cuts, which we're delivering for every one of the 78,000 taxpayers living in my electorate of Canberra.

Today, Emily and Nick will also get $300 back in power bill relief, as will every Canberra household, and, when their newborn arrives, they will be able to access a further two weeks of paid parental leave. When Nick goes to pick up his medicines next week at one of our great local pharmacies, he'll be paying less at the counter thanks to the freeze on PBS medications which comes into effect today. Wage rises, tax cuts, cost-of-living relief—it's all brought to you by an Albanese Labor government, and it would not be happening under those opposite.