In case you missed it, last weekend I joined my ACT Labor comrades to celebrate some of our achievements here in Canberra over the last few years.

From securing the future of our national collecting institutions, to opening five Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, reviving the AIS, and investing in the next stage of the light rail – we have so much to be proud of!

July 1 Changes

We're a government that gets things done. Here’s the cost of living relief that has started rolling out:

* 💵 A tax cut for all 240,000 Canberra taxpayers, with the average income earner in Canberra set to benefit by more than $1840 a year.

* 🏠 $300 in energy bill relief for all 196,000 ACT households

* 💊 A freeze on the cost of PBS medicines for every Canberran, making medicines cheaper, particularly for those on long-term medications.

* 👶 22 weeks of paid parental leave with a plan to expand that to 26 weeks by 2026, providing families with about $24,000 in government-funded leave when fully implemented

* 🏠 A 10% increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance for 7,300 Canberra households

* 💵 A third consecutive pay rise for 2.6 million workers on award wages

That’s not all. Labor has already delivered cheaper childcare, fee-free TAFE and the biggest investment ever in expanding bulk-billing.

We know there’s more to do, and we’ll keep working every day to deliver for every Australian.

COTA Veterans Expo

One of the things that makes me proudest to be a Canberran is just how active our community sector is!

COTA’s Veterans Expo was an excellent example of this and it was great to see just how many support services and resources there are on offer for our veterans.

As always, it was a privilege to hear from a number of veterans and their families directly about how they’re getting involved in the community. Thanks for having me!

Registering your baby made easier in ACT

We know that new parents already have enough on their plates. That’s why we’re streamlining the process to register a baby’s birth so they only have to tell us once instead of providing different agencies the same information repeatedly.

This new process uses the myGov platform and is being trialled at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children in Woden and North Canberra Hospital in Bruce, and it will help parents access critical health services such as Medicare, the Medicare Safety Net, My Health Record, and the Australian Immunisation Register.