Anthony Albanese launched Labour’s first election speech at a major campaign rally in Adelaide on Sunday, saying he is “determined to win the election next year”.
A jubilant crowd of Labor Party faithful greeted the Prime Minister on stage with cheers, applause, shouts and whistles.
Addressing his supporters, Albanese said his government came to power with a series of “challenges.”
“We come into office knowing that we are in a time of serious and urgent challenges due to global economic uncertainty,” he said.
‘A global rise in inflation and energy prices. And Australia’s relations with our own region are under strain.
‘And at home, aged care was in crisis, Medicare threatened, mass billing in free fall, real wages receding not by accident but as a deliberate design feature of the economic architecture.
‘Our energy grid had been weakened by years of ideology and neglect.
‘And skills and manufacturing dried up to the point that in the middle of a global pandemic we almost ran out of masks and couldn’t make any more here.
‘These are the challenges we have had to face. “This is the mess we have worked to clean up.”
Albanese said Australia had “faced a global storm and navigated it the Australian way, the Labor way, not by cutting services that Australians count on, not by denying families the help they need in difficult times, but by caring for people and caring for the future.’
He said education was at the core of his government’s vision for a second term.
‘Free’: Albo’s big call at TAFE
Albanese promised that up to 100,000 Australians will have free, permanent access to TAFE across the country if the Labor government is re-elected.
He said the proposal would help more people gain the skills they need for a modern Australian economy.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) pledged to legislate for 100,000 free TAFE places a year while speaking at Sunday’s rally.
“More trades to build our homes, more apprentices to start, more carers to look after our loved ones, whether young or old, more opportunities for Australians to train and retrain in a changing and dynamic economy,” said the Mr. Albanese.
“TAFE gives our country and our people all of this, and as long as there is a Labor government, free TAFE is here to stay.”
Under the plan, the legislation would fund 100,000 free TAFE places each year from 2027.
Major change of $16 billion in student loans
Albanese also formally announced his government’s plans to eliminate 20 percent of student debt and reform payments.
About $16 billion in student debt would be eliminated from all existing student loan accounts starting in June of next year, meaning average HELP debts of $27,600 would be reduced by about $5,520 next year.
The proposal would apply to veterinary student loans, Australian learning support loans and other income-contingent student loans.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas (right) introduces the Prime Minister (left) to Labor faithful at a campaign rally in Adelaide on Sunday.
The Prime Minister (pictured) announced plans to cut 20 per cent of student debt – about $16 billion.
“It will be the first law we introduce in the next parliament, the first thing we do in our second term, and it will come into force on June 1 next year,” Mr Albanese promised.
“This measure alone means that a typical college graduate will see their debt reduced by five thousand five hundred dollars.”
Under the payment reforms, the threshold would be increased from $54,000 to $67,000 and payment rates would be reduced.
“This means that if you earn $70,000, you will save $1,300 a year in payments,” he said.
‘It helps everyone pay off student debt right now and also offers a better deal for all students for years to come.
‘Permanent structural reform to increase the take-home pay of young Australians.
‘It’s about putting money back in our pockets and returning intergenerational equity to the system.
“Good for the cost of living, good for this generation and generations to come, good for building Australia’s future.”
‘Happy to suffer’: brutal warning about Dutton
In his own speech at the rally, Richard Marles was a scathing critic of Peter Dutton, warning that the opposition leader was “happy to hurt people” to get ahead.
The Deputy Prime Minister told the Labor faithful that Dutton “never pursues their priorities, only his own”.
“He believes that’s what leadership is all about,” Mr. Marles said.
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles (pictured) said Peter Dutton was “happy to hurt people”.
‘Cut and fell instead of protecting and investing, intimidate and block instead of building, destroy and complain instead of work.
‘Happy to hurt people, if you think that would help you, and happy to take the country backwards, if you think that would propel it forward.
‘That’s who we face in the next election. That is our contest and we must win it, because if Peter Dutton wins, the country loses.’
“Reckless liberals made a mess”: Wong
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, originally from Adelaide, praised the Albanian government’s economic performance.
Senator Wong pointed to inflation falling below three per cent last week and back-to-back budget surpluses.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong (pictured) branded the Liberal Party “reckless” and commented that inflation fell below three per cent last week under the Labor government.
He then turned to the Covid-19 research report, in which the previous coalition government’s spending during the pandemic response significantly boosted inflation.
“The Morrison-Dutton government implemented too much stimulus and Australians ended up with peak inflation at least two percentage points higher than it should have been,” Senator Wong said.
“Reckless Liberals caused a disaster, Australians paid the price and the Albanian government is cleaning up the mess.”