Alboversary: What Anthony Albanese’s first year as Prime Minister has done for Australia

One year ago voters headed to the polling booths and made decisions that changed the Government and put Labor and Anthony Albanese in charge of the country. On election night as he claimed victory, the Prime Minister pledged to act on his “positive, clear plan for a better future for our country” and keep his central promise that no one would be left behind or held back. “My Labor team will work every day to bring Australians together and I will lead a government worthy of the people of Australia,” he said. How has the Government gone at acting on its mandates over the past year? ECONOMY What they said they would do: Boost productivity and grow the economy, get wages moving again and make sure there is something to show for any government debt. What they have done: Treasurer Jim Chalmers has now handed down two budgets and, in doing so, banked the vast majority of windfall revenue. This has led to a $100 billion turnaround in the bottom line, a significant reduction in interest payments on government debt and a surprise $4.2b surplus in the current financial year. Pay packets are growing faster than in recent years but workers are still taking a real wages cut because inflation is so high. However, the recent Budget forecasts wages growth will outpace inflation by the start of 2024, at least six months earlier than previously thought. On the productivity front though, business leaders are concerned not enough is being done to get things moving. Dr Chalmers has committed to working with his State and Territory counterparts in June on the recommendations from the Productivity Commission’s five-yearly review. HEALTH What they said they would do: Healthcare was the centrepiece of Labor’s election campaign with promises on Medicare, urgent care clinics, women’s safety and the cost of medications. Labor promised to launch the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce to focus on what can be done immediately to overhaul the national health insurance program and pledged $750 million over three years. What they have done: The Budget tripled incentives for GPs to bulk-bill children under 16, pensioners, and concession-card holders, and Labor will now fund doctors’ consultations of an hour or more and improve after-hours services. Another big ticket item in Labor’s health plan was committing $135 million over four years for a minimum of 50 urgent care clinics designed to “take the pressure off emergency departments”. Earlier this week, it was revealed the first of WA’s clinics is expected to be up and running by the end of June. The idea is to take pressure off hospitals by treating people with non-life-threatening injuries without them waiting for hours at emergency departments. Out-of-pocket costs for medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme were slashed from $42.50 to $30 per script since January 1. Millions of Australian workers have also been able to access up to 10 days of paid domestic violence leave after it was made law in October. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS What they said they would do: Create more secure jobs and improve gender equality and women’s participation. What they have done: Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke acted swiftly after the election to back a significant increase to the minimum wage. The Government also backed in a large increase to the wages of aged care workers and the Fair Work Commission acted on both fronts. A hefty piece of industrial relations law made changes the Government hopes will make it easier for other low-paid feminised industries to seek similar pay increases. But it also, controversially, paved the way for multi-employer bargaining — and was pushed through Parliament at a breakneck pace. Mr Burke is now consulting on a further tranche of IR changes he wants to pass later this year, including “same job, same pay” provisions aimed at curbing the use of labour hire contractors and casuals. AGED CARE What they said they would do: Labor wheeled out five huge promises on the future of aged care in Australia during the election at a cost of $2.5b over the forward estimates. This included requiring every aged care facility to have a registered nurse on site 24/7, and mandating that every Australian living in aged care receives an average of 200 minutes of care per day by October this year, as recommended by a royal commission. What they have done: All five elements of the policy have been acted on. However, while it has been legislated that every aged care home is required to have a nurse on site 24/7, Aged Care Minister Anika Wells conceded it was unlikely to happen by July 1 as promised. The Federal Budget this month contained $36b for the sector, including $11.3b over the next four years to fund a historic 15 per cent increase to the award wage for aged care workers. Labor has also worked with the sector to develop and implement mandatory nutrition standards for aged care homes. Residential care providers are now required to report what they are spending money on with the Aged Care Safety Commissioner given new powers to ensure accountability and integrity. CHILDCARE What they said they would do: Make childcare cheaper. What they have done: The plan to increase childcare subsidies and deliver them to more families was legislated quick smart, but it doesn’t begin until July 1. The Government anticipates cheaper fees will allow more mothers to start work or take on extra hours. But the sector and early childhood advocates have been warning a chronic shortage of educators will hamper the ability of centres to offer more places and meet the increased demand. NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME What they said they would do: Fix and “defend” the NDIS after what was described as a decade of negligence and mismanagement under the Coalition, through a sweeping review of the scheme, extra resources for the agency which runs it and a renewed focus on fighting fraud. What they have done: The Government has largely made good on those promises but its pre-election pitch was silent on one major point that has now become one of Labor’s biggest Budget headaches. NDIS Minister Bill Shorten dismissed warnings about the scheme’s out-of-control costs while in opposition. But in government he’s changed his tune, accepting that the spiralling costs must be curbed to keep the scheme sustainable. There was certainly nothing in Labor’s election platform about a target to limit NDIS growth — something Mr Albanese and State and Territory leaders agreed to last month. The Budget papers revealed plans to save a whopping $15.3b in the next four years — and $74 billion this decade — through slowing the cost growth. Mr Shorten has shut down talk of kicking people off the scheme, tightening eligibility criteria or slashing participant funding to meet the target, adamant that costs can be reined in simply by making the scheme run better. CLIMATE AND ENERGY What they said they would do: Legislate a 43 per cent 2030 emissions reduction target and net zero by 2050 goal, and overhaul the “safeguard mechanism” to limit the carbon footprint of the nation’s biggest polluters. The Powering Australia plan promised households would save $275 on their annual power bill by 2025, as it transitioned the grid to 82 per cent renewables by the end of the decade. Above all, Mr Albanese promised to end the “climate wars”. What have they done: The Government passed its climate targets and safeguard mechanism through the Federal Parliament but not without a fight. The Coalition opposed both Bills, forcing Labor to negotiate with the Greens and crossbench. The power bill promise appears dead in the water after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent gas and electricity prices in the Eastern States through the roof. The Government launched an emergency intervention to get prices under control, including a temporary gas price cap and mandatory code of conduct. The market meddling, combined with proposed changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, has prompted the Coalition to claim the sector is under attack from Labor. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton went as far as arguing the Government’s energy agenda was driven by “renewables zealotry”. The climate wars rage on. For now, at least. HOUSING What they said they would do: Set up a $10b fund to build 30,000 social and affordable homes and a shared equity scheme allowing first-homebuyers to co-purchase a property with the Federal Government. What have they done: The “help-to-buy” proposal attracted most of the headlines during the election campaign, with then-prime minister Scott Morrison declaring Labor wanted the “government to own your home”. But it’s been barely spoken about since as the Government fine-tunes the scheme behind the scenes. The $10b fund, in contrast, has created a political storm that could end with Mr Albanese’s first major parliamentary defeat as Prime Minister. The Greens are refusing to support the fund, insisting it doesn’t go nearly far enough to address the nation’s housing crisis. DEFENCE What they said they would do: With the need for speed to build up the country’s national security capabilities due to the rise of China in the region, Labor promised $270b in Defence spending over this decade during the election. It committed to honouring the AUKUS agreement made between Australia, the UK and the US under the Morrison government, and promised a force structure review. What they have done: Defence funding is now set to rise to more than 2 per cent of GDP over the forward estimates — the highest level in decades — although Defence Minister Richard Marles is reluctant to put a new spending target in place. The AUKUS deal was finalised, with Mr Albanese announcing alongside US President Joe Biden in March that Australia would undertake a three-phase plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines at an estimated cost of $368b over the next 30 years. About $8b will be spent over the next 10 years on wharf upgrades, operation maintenance, logistics and training facilities at the HMAS Stirling naval base at Garden Island, with work expected to create about 3000 direct jobs in WA. Former Defence Force boss Angus Houston and minister Stephen Smith were tasked to write a Defence Strategic Review. It was unveiled the day before Anzac Day, offering a plan for Australia’s military to be significantly reshaped to deal with the profound risks the nation faces from China. Northern air bases at Curtin and Learmonth in WA will be stocked-up with missiles and ADF personnel will be offered a $50,000 bonus payment to keep them in the job as the Government seeks to boost the workforce. The review also urged the Commonwealth to step in and make the Henderson dry dock happen in WA, calling it a “critical enabler” for the construction and maintenance of the nation’s largest ships. The Government committed to deepening engagement with the nation’s Pacific neighbours by establishing a new Australia Pacific Defence School to train the region’s defence and security forces, which is expected to cost $6.5m over four years. An extra $5.1m was announced in the October Budget for research and development of biofuels to support renewable fuel production in Australia and $32.2m for the North Queensland Spark Training Facility for the Australian Defence Force. FOREIGN RELATIONS What they said they would do: Labor vowed to increase foreign aid in the Pacific by more than half a billion dollars to counter China’s rising influence in the region with Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the time saying Australia needed to restore its place as the first partner of choice in the region. The ALP pledged to reform Pacific worker schemes, ramp up patrols to fight illegal fishing, boost regional broadcasting, and “listen and act on Pacific island warnings of the existential threat of climate change”. Senator Wong accused Mr Morrison of dropping the ball in the Pacific after China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands. What have they done: At the National Press Club in April, Senator Wong said her Government had made engagement with ASEAN and its members a core priority. “By the first anniversary of our Government, I will have visited every country in South-East Asia as foreign minister, except Myanmar,” she said at the time. “This diplomatic effort must be complemented by increased economic engagement.” Australia’s relationship with China is also back on track after being frozen in 2020 when the Morrison government demanded a UN inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. Tensions started to thaw under the Labor Government with the Prime Minister meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali in November, and Senator Wong and Trade Minister Don Farrell both making separate trips to Beijing to improve dialogue. VOICE TO PARLIAMENT What they said they would do: Implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. What they have done: After months of drafting by the referendum working group, legislation proposing a constitutional change to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of Australia and enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament as an advisory body is now before MPs. The referendum is expected to be held in October. But it has proven more divisive than Mr Albanese wanted, particularly once the Liberal and National parties decided to oppose the Voice. The Government says work on treaties and truth-telling will start once the Voice is in place. THE WA AGENDA What they said they would do: Keep the GST deal, and Mr Albanese promised to visit WA 10 times a year. What they have done: Mr Albanese and Dr Chalmers are adamant the GST floor will stay untouched even as east coast premiers and think tanks like the Grattan Institute call for it to be dumped or altered. The recent Budget delivered WA $23b more in GST revenue than if the floor had not been in place. But a move to phase out live exports has angered farmers while the Government also plans to increase the tax on offshore gas projects to raise an extra $2.4b. As for visiting, Mr Albanese has kept his promise and then some, heading to WA 12 times in his first year — a feat he says means he’s spent more time in the west than his three Liberal predecessors combined. He has pledged the frequent visits will continue.