Good morning everyone. And welcome to JD Propagation in the electorate of Holt. And it’s great to see our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, right here in the electorate of Holt and in the southeast suburbs. I have lived in the southeast suburbs for over 25 years since I moved to Australia. And I would like to thank Jen and Dan for hosting us here today and showing us around. JD Propagation is located right here in the electorate of Holt. And they employ over 55 people and most of them are local. So, thank you so much for showing us around. I know in my community, one of the biggest issues is the cost of living. And it will be my greatest honour to introduce the Prime Minister of this country to tell us a little bit more about what’s happening in two days’ time to help us with the ease of cost of living.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much. Well, thanks so much, Cassandra, and thanks very much as well to JD Propagation for having us here at this amazing facility. A small business that is increasingly becoming a larger business, growing. 55 permanent employees. It grows up to 80 at peak times. And it’s a business that’s employing local people, assisting the economy here in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne. It’s interesting that this small business, too, happens to produce around 14 million plants a year. And that’s about the same number as the Australians who will get a tax cut on Monday. All 13.6 million taxpayers, not just some. In addition to that, award wages will increase on Monday, the third consecutive increase in the minimum wage. Making sure that low and middle income earners are looked after. The tax changes that we have made to take money off the top and to give it to middle Australia will make a difference. We want Australians to earn more and to keep more of what they earn. In addition to that, we’re freezing the costs of medicines on an ongoing basis from Monday. There’s two weeks additional paid parental leave as well as $300 of energy price relief for every single household. These practical measures are making a difference to cost of living pressures, whilst continuing to put that downward pressure on inflation that we need to act on. And the other measure that’s making a difference on that, of course, is two consecutive budget surpluses. We turned a $78 billion Liberal deficit into a $22 billion Labor surplus. And we have turned consecutive Liberal deficits that were there in the Budget that we inherited into two Labor surpluses in a row, making a difference in putting that downward pressure on inflation. Happy to take some questions.
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