Anthony Albanese gets the opening statement.

The world has thrown a lot of challenges at Australia. In the last few years, we’ve had the COVID pandemic, followed by the biggest inflation spike since the 1980s and the biggest energy crisis since the 1970s but what matters is how you respond, and we’ve responded the Australian way.

What is the Australian way?

Thanks to the hard work of Australians, including the people in this room, inflation is down to 2.4%, wages, real wages are up. They’ve been up five quarters in a row. Unemployment is low at 4.1% we’ve created 1 million jobs, and importantly, interest rates have started to fall.

What this election is about, though, is what happens next, whether we continue to build on those foundations with a tax cut for all 14 million Australians, strengthen Medicare, including those bulk billing rates getting up to 90% and making sure we have urgent care clinics free TAFE, the 20% of student debt and making more things here in Australia through a future major in Australia.

Now, you can’t control everything that happens, and we know in the world it’s uncertain, but I’m absolutely certain of this, now is not the time to cut now is not the time to look backwards. Now is the time to look forward and seize the opportunities and build Australia’s future.