SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER
MINISTER FOR FINANCE
MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE
MINISTER FOR THE GOVERNMENT SERVICES
CHAPTER ONE: AN ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE
50TH ALP NATIONAL CONFERENCE, ADELAIDE, 23 JULY 2026
Thanks so much, Jim.
It's a real privilege to be here as Minister for Finance, Women, the Public Service, and Government Services to second this chapter of our platform just moved by my friend, the Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
Delegates, I'm really proud of what we've achieved together over the past four years.
When we last gathered at National Conference, the Albanese Labor Government had been in office for just over a year.
And we spoke about the task ahead of us, to build an economy that was not just stronger but fairer.
An economy that rewarded work.
That expanded opportunity.
That ensured more Australians could share in the benefits of growth.
Today, we can point to the progress we have made together –
Delivering tax cuts, strengthening Medicare, making childcare cheaper, backing higher wages, strengthening government services, and placing gender equality at the centre of our economic policy.
We've demonstrated in the decisions that we've taken that responsible economic and budget management and Labor values go hand in hand.
And when Australians returned us to government last year, they backed our vision for the future.
To keep building that economy that works for everyone.
Where government manages the Budget in a responsible and a sustainable way –
That's meant budget repair, smaller deficits, lower debt, and finding savings.
Undertaking reform in every budget so that we're able to make investments into services that Australians value and rely upon –
Like Medicare, like our investments in housing and our help to provide cost of living relief through tax cuts and supporting a pay rise for three million award wage workers, making 137 Medicare urgent care clinics a permanent feature of our health system.
And as a reforming Labor government, we're also taking on those big national challenges, doing the work that had been ignored or neglected by the former Coalition Government.
In tax, in housing, in energy policy, industry policy, the care economy, technology, the adoption of AI, in healthcare, education, defence, national security, international relations –
Across every portfolio and every Minister.
This Labor Government is working hard to make our economy, our society, and our community work in the interests of all.
Now, delegates, back in 2022, because of the decisions made at Labor conferences of the past, the Albanese Government delivered Australia's first federal government where the majority of caucus members were women.
And in 2025, we went one step further with Australia's first gender equal federal Cabinet.
Women aren't just represented in our government, we’re at every table where the decisions are made.
And we recognise –
Not just in words but also in action –
That an economy that works for women works for everybody.
Where ending violence against women and children is taken seriously and seen as a national priority.
Where women's healthcare is front and centre.
Where women are paid fairly for the work they do, and as a result are earning more, and the gender pay gap is the lowest on record.
Where barriers to women's workforce participation are removed.
Where the role of care is valued and supported.
Delegates, in the past few years, we've introduced a three-day guarantee in early education and care.
We've delivered those long overdue pay rises in the care sector.
We've extended Paid Parental Leave to a full six months, and Super is being paid on it –
Something many in this room have campaigned for, for years.
We've made historic investments in women's health, expanding access to endo and menopause care, and making essential treatments cheaper through the PBS.
Now, delegates, as you know, none of this happens by accident.
It happened because Labor governments make it happen.
And it happened because unions and every member advocated and campaigned for it at meetings like this.
Every tax cut, every pay rise, every new first home, every free visit to the doctor, every step we take towards closing the gender pay gap.
That's what this chapter of our platform is about.
It's about an economy that works for everyone, delivering on that great Labor promise of a fair go.
This is what our party will always stand for.
And it's what the Albanese Labor Government will continue to deliver.
Thank you.
