Anthony Albanese’s huge plan for Australia: PM announces what’s next – and what it means for you

The PM revealed he has told Treasurer Jim Chalmers to convene a roundtable of business leaders, union bosses and key members of civil society.

‘This will be a more streamlined dialogue than the Jobs and Skills Summit, dealing with a more targeted set of issues,’ he said.

‘We want to build the broadest possible base of support for further economic reform.

‘To drive growth. Boost productivity. Strengthen the budget.’
Albanese highlighted the areas where he wanted to see a boost in productivity.

‘Driving faster approvals for housing, energy and infrastructure projects, while ensuring sustainability,’ he said.

‘Making it easier for Australian innovators to commercialise their breakthroughs and create jobs in Australia.

‘Investing in the skills our nation needs and making sure those qualifications are recognised, nationwide.

‘Ensuring all Australians are better prepared to capitalise on the opportunities of artificial intelligence while making sure we secure ourselves against its risks.

‘And continuing the work we’ve done through Services Australia to make it easier for people to access and navigate the government services they rely on.’

Albanese has insisted that the first piece of legislation that Labor will introduce when parliament returns next month will be its promise to cut student debt by 20 per cent.

‘This will save around 3 million Australians an average of $5,500 each,’ he said.

‘And, as promised, it will be backdated, so that it applies from the 1st of June this year, before indexation.’

Albanese has referenced the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine, highlighting that ‘we are living in a time of significant global uncertainty’.

But he said it reaches beyond just economic instability.

‘It is the more corrosive proposition that politics and government and democratic institutions, including a free media, are incapable of meeting the demands of this moment,’ he said.

‘Some simply dismiss such sentiment. Others cynically seek to harvest it.

‘Our responsibility is to disprove it.’

The PM has held up a Medicare card to laughter from the audience.

He said that the opening of new urgent Medicare clinics will ‘mean four out of every five Australians will live within 20 minutes of a clinic’.

‘Already, 1.5 million Australians have visited one of these clinics and all they have needed is their Medicare card,’ he added.

The PM regularly brandished a Medicare card during the campaign to hammer home Labor’s key election plegde.

Here are some of the occasions he took advantage of the prop:

March 28: Mr Albanese launches campaign holding a Medicare card.
April 3: Flashes it at Maitland Hospital, NSW.
April 13: Shows it again at the ALP campaign launch in Perth.
April 21: Card returns at Batemans Bay Urgent Care Clinic.
April 27: Seen again at Labor rally in Parramatta.
April 30: Used to promote bulk-billing at National Press Club.
May 3: Ends campaign at Morayfield Clinic with card in hand.
May 3: Holds up Medicare during his victory speech.
June 10: Holds up Medicare card at National Press Club address

The PM has referenced his new, two-word slogan for the values he believes secured Labor’s thumping victory: progressive patriotism.

But what does it mean? Read below.

Albanese has begun his speech by drawing a thread from Labor’s victory in 2022, claiming back then they ‘voted for change’.

‘To change the government, to change the country, to change the way we engaged with the world and the way our economy worked at home,’ he told the National Press Club.

‘In May 2025, Australians voted to make that change last.

‘To build on the foundations we had laid. To carry forward the reforms we had begun.’

Anthony Albanese has welcomed his new MPs to Parliament House.

‘Welcome, Labor’s class of 2025,’ the PM posted on X.

Anthony Albanese is set to lay out his second-term agenda in a key speech, as he prepares for potential talks with Donald Trump .

In his first major address since his election win in May, the Prime Minister will speak at the National Press Club about his priorities when parliament resumes in July.

After securing an larger Lower House majority, Albanese will say delivering on promises will be his priority even as the country battles significant economic headwinds in the form of the cost-of-living crisis, negative growth per capita, and growing debt.