Dai Le (Fowler, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I stand here representing the people of Fowler where the average weekly wage is 20 per cent lower than the rest of Australia. We are a low socioeconomic community, but what does that really mean? It means that many people in my electorate of Fowler are on low incomes. They work in factories and run their small family businesses. Many of them have come to this country from migrant and refugee backgrounds, like mine, to create a better life for their families, with a dream of owning a home, sending their kids to a good school and work hard to provide for their future.

This government is making life more difficult by its refusal to extend the excise fuel duty to enable families in south-west Sydney to drive long distances to work or to take their kids to school or elderly parents to the doctor. Extending the fuel levy would not have added to inflation. Our families are now seeing a rise in petrol prices and will bear the brunt of this just before Christmas. The government is being stubborn in not splitting the fair work legislation amendment bill before us—for wage rises to take effect as soon as possible that would benefit low-wage workers, such as those in retail work, aged care, teaching and child care, and scrapping the low- and middle-income tax offset which would have benefited all Australians earning $120,000 or less.

The cost of living in my community of Fowler and in Australia overall has been front and centre for me since my election to this House. I am concerned for the health and wellbeing of the people who live in my area, who are trying to cope with so many increasing costs. They're paying more for fuel and interest rates are going up, as is their weekly grocery bill.

I'm worried about people like 71-year-old Katalin, from St Johns Park, who called my office this week. She told us how she can barely manage to keep herself going on the $926 a fortnight she earns as a pensioner, which has to stretch to pay for house insurance, rates, water, electricity, gas, green slip and telephone. It was heartbreaking to hear that she truly believes this government has mader life harder than it was when she raised two children as a single mother. It's not the first call we have had from a pensioner worried about how they will survive the coming months and the next year, with prices on the rise.

For us here in Australia and especially for the families in my electorate of Fowler, the cost-of-living crisis is hitting hard. Just this past week, the Treasury warned of a deterioration in the global outlook, and they said it is 'becoming probable that major developed economies will soon experience recessions'. According to NAB's consumer sentiment survey, consumers should expect to spend an extra $170 a week on essential costs, like groceries, fuel and bills, in the lead-up to Christmas.

I feel compelled to bring up the current state of the energy market. I'm worried about the mere thought of coping with a 20 to 50 per cent energy bill rise that will affect the mental health and stability of families who live in my electorate. We're stuck in a cycle that delivers excessively high profits for some companies at the expense of everyday working-class families, not to mention the impact of energy costs on some 18,000-plus small businesses in the area.

A rise in energy prices of 50 per cent could see many of our local small operators having to close their doors, because they simply will not be able to cope with another increase in operating expenses. These are the people I am here to represent, and our government must take responsibility and action when it comes to taking care of all Australians. We need immediate relief and a transition plan for renewable energy that will not hit our families in low-socioeconomic areas so hard.

Energy affordability affects us all, but for some people it means the difference between putting food on the table and shoes on their children' feet or spending a night at home in the dark. Ordinary working families, small business and the elderly should not be made to suffer while energy companies reap excessive profits. The government have a number of options in front of them right now. They could introduce a windfall profits tax on the energy companies or they could re-establish agreements that withhold local supplies of gas. The government needs to take care of this nation and provide affordability in cost of living now.

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