Australian news and politics live: Penny Wong slams Coalition’s tariff politics, defends Labor’s US diplomacy

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has defended the AUKUS submarine deal after concerns were raised over US production delays.

Independent MP Allegra Spender asked whether the government had a Plan B, following US Navy warnings that Virginia-class submarine production remains too slow to meet Australia’s 2030s timeline.

Mr Marles acknowledged the challenge but said Australia was “well aware” of US production shortfalls when it signed the deal and stressed the importance of staying the course.

“If you’re focused on a Plan B, and there’s always chopping and changing, that’s not a decision to walk down the path of Plan B — that’s a decision not to have a capability at all,” he said.

Education Minister Jason Clare has hailed a major win for young Australians, announcing that Labor’s 20 per cent student debt cut has cleared the House of Representatives and is now headed to the Senate.

Mr Clare told Parliament the reforms would slash the average $27,000 student loan by $5500, with some seeing reductions as high as $10,000. Around 3 million Australians are expected to benefit.

“It means more money in your pocket, not the government’s,” he said.

The bill also includes structural changes: lifting the income threshold for repayments from $54,000 to $67,000 and reducing the minimum annual repayment amount — part of what Mr Clare called the most significant update to the HECS system in 35 years.

Mr Albanese was forced to defend Labor’s Medicare reforms, rejecting Ms Ley’s question over the cost of visiting GPs.

Pressed by Ms Ley on how many Australians are still forced to use their credit cards to access healthcare, the Prime Minister said Labor was delivering on its $3.5 billion plan to boost bulk billing — just not all at once.

“We said our reforms would lift bulk billing rates to 90 per cent by 2030. That timeline hasn’t changed,” he said.

Mr Albanese said the Government’s tripling of the bulk billing incentive had already seen 90 per cent of concession card holders seeing doctors for free.

He also accused the Coalition of having tried to “abolish bulk billing altogether” when they were last in office by proposing a Medicare co-payment.

Anthony Albanese has defended Labor’s move to slash student debt by 20 per cent, calling it a major win for equity and opportunity.

Speaking in Question Time, the Prime Minister said the change, Labor’s first legislative priority this term, would benefit around 3 million Australians, saving them an average of $5,500 each.

He pointed to examples of young people saving up to $20,000, including TAFE students who are also accessing free vocational training.

“This makes an enormous difference,” Mr Albanese said.

“It’s exactly what we meant when we said: no one held back and no one left behind.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has kicked off Question Time, grilling the Prime Minister over Labor’s record on aged care.

Ms Ley cited a blowout in the home care waitlist from 60,000 to more than 87,000 people since 2022.

She pointed to comments made by now-Health Minister Mark Butler, who called the original 60,000-person waitlist a “national disgrace” — asking the PM how he would describe the current figure.

Anthony Albanese defended his government’s record, highlighting aged care reforms passed last year in response to the royal commission’s damning findings of “neglect.”

He said 99 per cent of aged care homes now have a nurse on duty around the clock — a key Labor promise — and pledged ongoing investment after “a decade of neglect.”

Sussan Ley said her Opposition does not “hold the levers” to make change for Australians, but they see power bills going up and will hold Labor to account.

“We have about two years and nine months until the next election,” she said on Tuesday.

“We have the time to get energy policy right.

“We need to reflect on the result that we had on May 3, listen to the Australian people and develop energy policy with two fundamental principles: Playing our part in reducing emissions in a transparent and responsible way, and ensuring we have a stable and reliable grid that provides affordable energy to households and businesses.

Ms Ley said Dan Tehan’s energy working group will hold the Government to account.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the Albanese Government’s energy policy will be held to account by her Coalition.

Ms Ley said the “scrambling” by Labor to find alternative sources for reliable power shows how badly the Albanese Government has “messed this up”.

“What our job is, as members of the Opposition, is to hold them to account when it comes to the cost for Australians.

“You can’t have an energy policy that this government has announced that is all about renewables only, and expect it not to cost much, much more.”

Ms Ley added that the Australian people “deserve” to know how much that will cost.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says she has been left “distressed” by images shown of people starving in Gaza.

Responding to the question “Do you believe there is starvation in Gaza?”, Ms Ley said: “I have been incredibly distressed by the images I have seen, incredibly distressed.

“I am pleased that aid is now starting to flow into Gaza and that Israel has changed some of those aid channel flows in order to achieve that.

“I want to make this very important point. The war could end tomorrow if Hamas, the terrorist organisation that is in charge in Gaza, releases the hostages, that have been kept since October 7, 2023, and surrender.”

Asked again if she believed there was starvation, Ms Ley added: “I’ve said I am very distressed by the images I’ve seen, it’s a complex situation on the ground.”

The Coalition said it stands ready to support the Albanese Government in protecting children in childcare centres, calling on the government to “hurry up”.

“We are committed to be constructive and protecting some of the most vulnerable in our community, children in childcare centres,” shadow minister for education and early learning Jonathon Duniam said on Tuesday.

“After what happened in Victoria and other parts of the country for quite some time, we do not have a day to waste, and every measure needs to be put in place to protect young people in childcare centres.

“We owe it to them and their families that we have that done collectively.

“This is not a Labor problem, not a Liberal problem, not this Government’s problem. It is something we all need to be responsible for as leaders and as I said before, take every step to ensure it never happens again.

“Our message to the Government is to please, hurry up. Parents need it, children need it, we owe it to them.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the Coalition will not oppose the student debt bill but warned they will hold Labor to account over the claim life will become “easier” under a second Albanese Government.

“We will not oppose the government‘s proposal,” Ms Ley said.

“I want to say this to students today, remember this moment, because Anthony Albanese says life will be easier under him, costs will come down, everything will get cheaper.

“Remember this moment because, when I have spoken to young people across the country, they have talked about escalating costs, in rent, electricity, groceries, in everything a student needs to spend money on.

“It has been really tough. I want to highlight (that) underpinning this student debt relief bill has been a massive cost of living crisis for Australia’s students, so we will be holding them (Labor) to account, without any shadow of a doubt.”