ALISON BYRNES MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CUNNINGHAM
SPEECH
BUSINESS ILLAWARRA FEDERAL BUDGET AND FUTURE ECONOMY BRIEFING
THE GRANGE
FRIDAY 15 MAY 2026
A big thank you to Aunty Joyce for her welcome to country.
Thank you to Coralie for having Carol and I here this morning to chat a bit about the Budget.
I would also like to acknowledge Councillor Thomas Quinn.
Carol and I were keen to talk briefly about some of the reforms the Albanese Labor Government has announced this week.
The Budget is ambitious, and it announces some really big, but really important changes, particularly when it comes to rebalancing fairness between the generations and giving young people a fair go at owning their own home.
I know that Carol was also going to talk about the support for business in the Budget, so I’ll leave that to her, and focus on some of the other key changes I think matter to people across the Illawarra.
I know that when I speak to local people, far too many tell me that housing is their number one concern.
A lot of the focus is on what this means for young people, and that is really important – but it is also about what this means for their parents.
They’ve been worried about what the future looks like for their grown children, many of whom can’t move out of home, or are asking for the bank of mum and dad to help them get their foot in the property door.
I’ve heard the upset and the angst from some of those parents who are even delaying their own retirement – to support their grown kids.
Our tax system has been seriously unbalanced for too long, and we’re seeing the harsh consequences of that.
As the Treasurer said on Tuesday night – since 1999 – house prices have risen over 400 per cent, more than twice as fast as the average income.
In 1980, buying a home might have cost around three times your income.
By the year 2000, it was around four times, and now, it is more than eight times.
In the 80s, first home buyers were generally in their mid-20’s, now they’re mid-to-late 30s, and facing the possibility that they may never pay their mortgage off.
This is a situation that we have to change for the good of all Australians.
It’s important to note that the changes the Treasurer has announced have come directly out of the Economic Reform Roundtable held last year, and I think it is also really important that we understand what the changes will and won’t do.
For everyone who currently negatively gears a property, nothing will change.
From now on, people buying new homes will still be able to negatively gear those homes.
This will help ensure that investment is focused on building more supply, while freeing up existing homes.
We expect to see a significant shift from investment properties to owner occupied properties under these changes – around 75,000– which will also free up more rental homes as people who are currently renting move into owning a home instead.
When it comes to the Capital Gains Tax discount, our changes look to shift this back to its original intent where only real gains are taxed.
By linking the CGT discount to inflation, rather than an arbitrary figure across the board, we will resolve some of the inconsistencies that arose between fast and slow growing assets – making it fairer and more consistent.
I also just wanted to quickly touch on a few other big announcements for our region.
As I know many of you are acutely aware, we have a real issue locally with bed block caused by an undersupply of aged care beds.
Just last week, Selena Stevens and Adam Zarth from the RDA brought together providers, investors, landowners, government and industry to work out how we can get more shovel ready aged care projects moving quickly.
Because while government doesn’t build aged care – we certainly have money on the table.
This budget invests $3 billion in delivering more aged care beds, more packages and better care for older Australians.
We believe this will see 5,000 more aged care beds every year, and significantly reduce wait times for Support at Home Packages.
At the same time, we’ve made personal care services like showering and dressing free – to help people age in their homes with dignity.
In March of this year, Carol Berry, Fiona Phillips and I also worked closely with Minister for Aged Care Sam Rae to ensure that the Federal Government targeted the Illawarra as one its first priority regions to access $115 million made available through the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program to fund projects which can build and open more beds within two years.
On top of our aged care investment, the Budget is also providing three times more additional funding for public hospitals than the last 5 year agreement - $25 billion across the country and $6.5 billion in additional funding in NSW.
Strengthening Medicare has been a core focus of our government – in our region, we’ve seen more than 100,000 free visits to Medicare Urgent Care Clinics – now here to stay under this Budget, and more than 10 million cheaper medicine scripts have been filled, with more items in the Budget. When I was elected, you couldn’t find a fully bulk billing clinic in Cunningham – now we have 25 fully bulk billing clinics.
Those are incredible numbers making a significant difference to people across the Illawarra.
This Budget delivers real reform, it tackles intergenerational unfairness and it supports working Australians and local businesses.
There’s still so much more to do, and I know it won’t be easy.
But that’s the work of government, and we will continue doing what we can to make sure we build a better and fairer Australia for everyone.
ENDS
