It is a very difficult area to reform, which also required pay rises for caseworkers to keep them in the troubled system, as well as a long-overdue increase to the foster carers鈥 allowance, the first rise in real terms in two decades. Labor鈥檚 focus on a crucial area shows that it still has its social heart.
Labor will be criticised for doing very little on the cost of living in this budget. However, the reality is that there are very few levers a state government can pull to make major inroads on rising living costs. Mookhey insists delivering a real increase in wages will go some way to helping households.
The other, he says, is housing availability and affordability. A housing announcement in the budget was non-negotiable, as the government tries to meet is lofty housing targets in the coming years.
Mookhey boasts his 鈥渃anny use of the state鈥檚 balance sheet鈥 means the government can act as guarantor for mid-tier developers to help them get started on building when finance from lenders may otherwise hold them up. The plan, however, will only deliver 15,000 homes at best.