I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.
 
I acknowledge all my colleagues who are joining me here today.
 
I say on behalf of every single Labor member and senator, we are humbled and honoured by the trust that the Australian people have placed in our Government.
 
Each and every day, we are working to prove worthy of that trust. 
 
To stand up for Australia in a time of global uncertainty. 
 
To act on the immediate challenges confronting us.
 
To seize the opportunities ahead of us.
 
And to deliver the positive and ambitious agenda that we took to the Australian people.
 
Back in May 2022, Australians voted for change.
 
To change the government, to change the country, to change the way we engaged with the world and the way our economy worked at home.
 
In May 2025, Australians voted to make that change last.
 
To build on the foundations we had laid.
 
To carry forward the reforms we had begun.
 
And to see the rewards of their hard work, reflected in their daily lives.
 
With an economy that nourishes their aspiration and repays their efforts.
 
And a society where everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
 
Before the election, my colleagues and I were clear about our commitments and our approach.
 
And the democratic verdict rendered by Australians was every bit as clear.
 
On the 3rd of May, the Australian people voted for Australian values.
 
For fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all.
 
For a progressive patriotism where we are proud to do things our own way.
 
Where we recognise that our democracy, our commitment to fair wages and conditions, universal Medicare and universal superannuation are things that bring us together as Australians and set us apart from the world.
 
And where we embrace the fact that one of the characteristics that makes this the best nation on earth, is that all of us are driven by a determination to make it even better.
 
To face global challenges, shape economic change and engage with our region in the Australian way. 
 
And to build a future where no-one is held back and no-one is left behind.
 
On the 3rd of May, Australians voted for a Government with the plans and policies to uphold and fulfil these values.
 
Australians voted to strengthen Medicare and protect our world-leading Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
 
Australians voted to build more homes and to make it possible for people to buy their first home with just a 5 per cent deposit.
 
Australians voted to embrace the opportunities of cleaner, cheaper renewable energy and the new generation of jobs and industries it can power.
 
Australians voted to strengthen our defence capability and strengthen our relationships in our region.
 
Australians voted for new investment and new reform in every stage of education from early childhood, to schools, to TAFE and university.
 
Australians voted for greater opportunity for women, not as an add-on or an afterthought, but as a fundamental priority for our economy and society.
 
And Australians voted for a Labor Government to keep delivering real and lasting help with their cost of living.
 
Keeping inflation down.
 
Keeping unemployment low.
 
Getting real wages up.
 
Taking new action to make sure consumers don’t get ripped off.
 
Delivering more direct assistance to families and small business, including energy bill relief.
 
And helping people earn more and keep more of what they earn.
 
With top-up tax cuts next year, and the year after.
 
A new $1000 Instant Tax Deduction.
 
And a continuing focus on lifting productivity and boosting real wages.
 
Including for nearly 3 million Australians on award wages who will receive another real pay rise on the 1st of July. 
 
Our Government has secured a mandate to act.
 
Our tax cuts are already legislated, despite the Liberals and Nationals voting against them.
 
And when the new Parliament sits next month, the first piece of legislation we will introduce will cut student debt by 20 per cent.
 
This will save around 3 million Australians an average of $5,500 each.
 
And as promised it will be backdated, so that it applies from the 1st of June this year, before indexation.
 
By next year, the Five Per Cent Deposit Plan we took to the election will be open to every Australian looking to buy their first home.
 
It will be available for homes valued all the way up to the average price in every city and region.
 
And if you buy your first home through this plan, you won’t have to pay a single dollar in mortgage insurance - our government will cover it.
 
This will make a real difference for so many Australians. Instead of being stuck trying to save while their rent pays someone else’s mortgage, they will be paying off their own home.
 
From the 1st of January, medicines on the PBS will cost no more than $25 per script.
The lowest price since 2004.
 
For pensioners and concession card holders, the price of a script will be frozen at $7.70 until the end of the decade.
 
And at the same time, 1800 MEDICARE will be up and running.
 
Free, 24/7, expert health advice, only a phone call away.
 
I want to start opening the 50 new Medicare Urgent Care Clinics we promised, this year.
And we want them all open by the middle of next year.
 
Combined with the 87 we have already opened, this will mean four out of every five Australians will live within 20 minutes of a clinic.
 
Already, 1.5 million Australians have visited one of these clinics and all they have needed is their Medicare card.
 
Our Government is focused on delivery.
 
We know that delivery matters for all those Australians who voted Labor for lower taxes, stronger Medicare, better education and new help with the cost of living.
 
Delivering these commitments matters for every Australian, regardless of who they voted for.
 
It matters for our economy for the jobs, skills, technology, infrastructure and energy we need to grow and thrive in the years ahead.
 
It also matters for our democracy.
 
We are living in a time of significant global uncertainty - and that reaches beyond just economic instability.
 
It is the more corrosive proposition that politics and government and democratic institutions, including a free media, are incapable of meeting the demands of this moment.
 
Some simply dismiss such sentiment.
 
Others cynically seek to harvest it.
 
Our responsibility is to disprove it.
 
To recognise that some of this frustration is drawn from people’s real experiences the feeling that government isn’t working for them.
 
To counter this, we have to offer the practical and positive alternative.
 
To prove that a good, focused, reforming Labor government can make a real and positive difference to people’s lives.
 
And that we can do this while building for the future too.
 
A future which delivers on our vision for a stronger, fairer Australia. Indeed an Australia that is stronger, because it is fairer.
 
A future where we realise our potential as a renewable energy superpower.
 
A future where we have a thriving advanced manufacturing industry.
 
Where education enriches our human potential from universal affordable early learning, through properly funded schools and a dynamic tertiary sector.
 
Our vision is for a society that is a microcosm for the world where all are respected and valued and our diversity is recognised as a strength.
 
Where our international relationships in the fastest growing region of the world in human history benefit us, but also provide a platform for us to play a positive and stabilising global role in uncertain times.
 
Our Government’s vision and ambition for Australia’s future was never dependent on the size of our majority.
 
But you can only build for that future vision if you build confidence that you can deliver on urgent necessities.
 
How you do that is important too - ensuring that the actions of today, anticipate and create conditions for further reform tomorrow.
 
That is why so many of our election commitments for our second term, built on reforms we had introduced and were implementing in our first term.
 
Our agenda has been shaped by the lives and priorities of the Australian people.
 
And it is built on Australian values.
 
It is the mission and the measure of a Labor Government to give those enduring ideals of fairness, aspiration and opportunity renewed and deeper meaning, for more Australians.
 
To deliver reforms that hold no-one back and drive progress that leaves no-one behind.
 
This is no small task.
 
It demands we aim high and requires us to build big.
 
That’s why the very heart of our campaign was the biggest-ever investment in Medicare.
 
Driving to a target of 9 out of every 10 visits to the GP being fully bulk-billed by 2030.
 
Because we understand that for Medicare to remain a profound expression of the fair go, for it to be a continuing source of national pride for decades to come, it must rise to meet the new challenges in health and primary care, and it must deliver for people in every part of our country.
 
Through an entire decade in Government, the Liberals and Nationals invested less than $5 billion in housing.
 
Our $43 billion Homes for Australia plan sets the goal of building 1.2 million new homes before the end of the decade. 
 
Because we know that boosting supply is the key.
 
And we also understand that for the aspiration of home ownership to remain the great Australian dream, it must be achievable for this generation of Australians.
 
This same sense of responsibility to future generations is why we are working to meet the environmental challenges of climate change and seize the economic opportunities of the energy transition.
 
We have legislated our 43 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030 and our commitment to Net Zero by 2050.
 
We are delivering our energy policy, renewables, backed by gas, batteries and hydro.
 
And we are investing in our economic sovereignty, our capacity to make more things here, with our plan for a Future Made in Australia.
 
As I said on election night, this is a time of profound opportunity for our nation.
 
Because when you consider the resources and energy and technology that a world moving to Net Zero needs.
 
When you look at our world-leading universities and researchers and TAFEs and start-ups.
 
When you think about the change in comparative advantage that is occurring.
 
Where having the space to co-locate extraction, refining and processing and manufacturing is of increasing significance as a proportion of the cost of production, compared to the cost of labour.
 
When you think about what global investors in data centres and green metals and clean energy are looking for.
 
Truly, there is nowhere else you would rather be than right here in Australia.
 
But for all our national strengths and natural advantages, our success is not guaranteed.
Nothing is going to be given to us - and the world is not waiting for us.
 
To realise this opportunity, shape it and make it our own we have to move quickly to build an economy that is more dynamic, more productive and more resilient.
 
This does not mean dismissing the policies or the values we took to the last election.
 
It means working together to fulfil them and build on them.
 
The commitments the Australian people voted for in May are the foundation of our mandate, they are not the limits of our responsibilities or our vision.
 
The way we deal with big challenges and opportunities from our first term, from economic growth and productivity to the energy transition will continue to evolve.
 
And there will be new challenges to meet, at home and overseas. 
 
In December 2022, we responded to the worst global energy crisis since the 1970s by bringing together what was then the New South Wales Liberal Government and the Queensland Labor Government to impose price caps on gas and coal.
 
None of us had taken that commitment to an election, but all of us recognised we had a responsibility to act in the interests of Australians.
 
Or take our world-leading legislation creating an age limit for social media.
 
That arose from a courageous campaign led by parents and backed by the Australian media. 
Our Government answered those calls and this was passed with bipartisan support.
 
This is about government creating a community standard, as well as a legal one.
 
Making it clear that social media companies have a social responsibility.
 
And giving parents and teachers a signal they can point to when they’re talking with children about how to engage with technology safely.
 
This matters, and we won’t be taking a backward step on it.
 
Being in Government also means you can pursue unexpected opportunities.
 
It has been 14 years since the Gonski Review identified the Schooling Resource Standard.
 
Now, for the first time ever, we have agreement between every state and territory and the Commonwealth on the funding and reforms to get us there.
 
To ensure that every Australian student in every Australian school will get the funding they need to reach their full potential.
 
This goes above and beyond what we promised at the 2022 election.
 
And delivering it wasn’t a matter of issuing public demands or waving around a blank cheque.
 
It took patient, constructive and direct engagement with the states and territories and the education sector to ensure that every Commonwealth dollar spent on schools would be linked to real reform.
 
I look at this breakthrough as a model for our future engagement with the states and territories on other areas of shared responsibility.
 
A chance to secure lasting, meaningful agreement on funding for public hospitals and ensuring the National Disability Insurance Scheme is on a sustainable footing.
 
Just as co-operation between different levels of government is vital to securing the services and support that Australians expect and deserve, co-operation between government, business and unions is essential to securing our future growth and prosperity.
 
Over the last three years we have all worked together to put the worst of global inflation behind us.
 
To bring inflation down, without sacrificing people’s jobs or cutting the wages and services Australians rely on.
 
With two interest rate cuts already this year, there is a growing sense that our economy is turning the corner.
 
Making our way forward depends on what all of us can work together to achieve.
 
That’s why I have asked the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, to convene a roundtable to support and shape our government’s growth and productivity agenda.
 
At Parliament House in August, we will bring together a group of leaders from the business community, the union movement and civil society.
 
This will be a more streamlined dialogue than the Jobs and Skills Summit, dealing with a more targeted set of issues.
 
We want to build the broadest possible base of support for further economic reform.
To drive growth.
 
Boost productivity.
 
Strengthen the budget.
 
And secure the resilience of our economy, in a time of global uncertainty.
 
What we want is a focused dialogue and constructive debate that leads to concrete and tangible actions.
 
The starting point for our Government is clear.
 
Our plan for economic growth and productivity is about Australians earning more and keeping more of what they earn.
 
We want to build an economy where growth, wages and productivity rise together. 
 
This work is already underway - including our National Productivity Fund, incentivising state and territory governments to drive efficiencies in construction.
 
Or the new measures in the Budget in March, including reform of Non-Compete Clauses and new action on national standards for Occupational Licensing.
 
In the next three years, we want to expand on this approach. 
 
I am optimistic about the progress we can make, because there is substantial agreement on so many of the key priorities.
 
Driving faster approvals for housing, energy and infrastructure projects, while ensuring sustainability.
 
Making it easier for Australian innovators to commercialise their breakthroughs and create jobs in Australia.
 
Investing in the skills our nation needs and making sure those qualifications are recognised, nationwide.
 
Ensuring all Australians are better prepared to capitalise on the opportunities of Artificial Intelligence while making sure we secure ourselves against its risks.
 
And continuing the work we’ve done through Services Australia to make it easier for people to access and navigate the government services they rely on.
 
Some of this is about government doing the basics better, targeting duplication, removing barriers to investment and reducing the cost of doing business.
 
But not every challenge can be solved by government stepping back.
 
This is a time when government has to step up, to invest in education and skills and research and innovation.
 
To build and upgrade the infrastructure that supports growth and drives productivity.
 
To combine our Future Made in Australia plan, our Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve and our new investment framework with a deeper and more diversified trade agenda, especially in our region.  
 
And to provide business and industry with the certainty to invest in all their assets, technology, energy and their people most of all.
 
Again, this is where the way we make change, the ‘how’ matters.
 
Because change that is imposed unilaterally by government rarely endures. 
 
Key to lasting change is reform that Australians own and understand.
 
Reform that clearly serves a national purpose and the national interest.
 
Change that empowers and engages people, with a sense of choice and agency.
 
Change that generates its own momentum and builds its own staying power.
 
That’s the long-term, lasting change our Government wants to deliver. 

And we respect the vital role the Australian Public Service has to play in this.

Today, I am pleased to confirm the appointment of Dr Steven Kennedy as Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

And Jenny Wilkinson as Secretary to the Treasury, the first woman to be appointed to the role. 

These outstanding public servants will continue to excel in their service to our nation. 

I am delighted that Dr Kennedy and Ms Wilkinson accepted my invitations.

I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Glyn Davis, the outgoing Secretary, for his service and his contribution to our country.

Over the next three years, we are focused on delivering what Australians voted for on May the 3rd.
 
And in the conversation about future economic reform, we should also remember what Australians voted against.
 
Because Australians overwhelmingly rejected policies designed to drive down wages, undermine job security and take flexibility away from working families. 
 
Australians voted against mass sackings in the public service and the damage that would do to our social safety net.
 
Australians rejected nuclear power, not just because of its staggering cost.
 
But because people recognised the Liberals and Nationals’ plan for what it was.
 
A last desperate attempt to delay action on climate change and derail the transition to renewable energy.
 
And Australians voted against importing conflicts and ideologies that have no basis in our national culture or character.
 
They rejected policies copied from overseas that would only leave us a smaller, narrower, less generous and more divided country.
 
Instead, our people chose to face global challenges in the Australian way.
 
And that is precisely the way for us to compete and succeed in the world and grow and prosper at home.
 
Our own way. On our terms. In our interests.
 
Not seeking to imitate low-wage economies, not leaving people behind in the scramble for some perceived advantage.
 
Not trading away the things that make us the best country on earth.
 
Trusting in our national values. Building on our national strengths.
 
And backing our people, rewarding their hard work, investing in their talent and nourishing their aspiration.
 
My colleagues and I understand that every day in Government is a privilege.
 
And with optimism, urgency, purpose and determination, we intend to make every single day count.