The Prime Minister was asked yesterday if he had a recommendation for young people who could not afford to buy a home. His response had 351 words but not a single recommendation. This, of course, is just one recommendation less than Mr Hockey, who once unhelpfully suggested that young people should just get a better job - 

I rise to address Australia's rental crisis. 2.7 million Australian households rent. They are the forgotten face of Australia's housing affordability crisis. They are forgotten in our national conversation and, unhappily, they are forgotten by the Turnbull government. 

I spoke at Labor’s National Conference about tax and tax transparency: If people and companies want to use contrived structures to avoid tax, they should be prepared to publicly defend their decisions.

Australia is a relatively low taxing nation, and over the last ten years, Commonwealth revenue as a share of GDP has fallen significantly. Labor in government kept tax revenues below the levels inherited from John Howard, and made tough choices to fund new promises. However, the community has high expectations of the services they'll receive from government, and the call on our budget for services like health care is expected to rise. 

I spoke about this issue at last weekend's NSW ALP State Conference, arguing that we need an honest conversation with our community about the services they want, and their willingness to pay for them.