Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Every day Australians are hurting. The No. 1 priority of this government should be addressing the increases in the cost of living that is burdening Australian households right now. Grocery bills are becoming more shocking by the week. Energy bills are rapidly increasing. The cost of fuel is still on the rise. But the No. 1 priority of this government isn't the cost of living. It isn't the Australians doing it tough with the household budget at the moment. It's with trying to ensure a nice little Christmas present for their friends, the unions. I've said before: government is not a spectator sport. The Labor government need to realise they are running the show. Rather than fixating on commentary, rhetoric and spin, they need to provide us with a plan that will ease the hip-pocket pain right now across Australia.

On budget night, the Labor government walked away from a commitment to reduce every household's energy bill by $275—a promise that was repeated 97 times. Not a slip of the tongue. Instead, Labor have unapologetically served up a 56 per cent increase on power bills. In May last year, the now Prime Minister said, 'Look, it's the job of the Prime Minister to deal with challenges that Australia faces and not to consistently just blame everyone else.' Either he's got a short memory or he's changed his mind on what the job of a Prime Minister is. All we have seen in the six months of this government is the constant blame game and the denying of responsibility. What we haven't seen is a plan to get the nation out of this cost-of-living crisis.

In the then opposition leader's speech to convince the Australian people to elect him, he said: 'As your Prime Minister, I won't run from responsibility. I won't treat every crisis as a chance to blame someone else. I will show up, I will step up and I will bring people together.' Well, Mr Prime Minister, where are you now when my people in Dawson have their electricity bills skyrocketing? Where were you when they were all having access to their power jeopardised and small businesses threatened by the unions? At a time of an inflation crisis, energy woes that are going to leave our country extremely vulnerable and significant cost-of-living pressures this government is deciding to experiment with the Australian economy, household budgets and the hardworking businesses of this nation.

Then we had the budget. It was Labor's opportunity to assure Australians that a reprieve was on the way, and the government had their back. But that's not what happened. There were zero physical strategy and economic solutions. Even Julia Gillard's former economist has said the budget did not put pressure on downward inflation. The government is hoping the Reserve Bank will do the heavy lifting for them. In the election they said, time and time again, 'You'll be better off under Labor,' but a Newspoll conducted in the wake of this first budget, a crucial budget, revealed that almost half of the voters believe they will be worse off over the next 12 months.

The Australian people have the right to feel let down and to feel misled. They are the ones who have been on the receiving end of the broken promises and the shirking of responsibility. Now the Australian people are the ones who have to bear the burden for increased costs of their day-to-day bills without any leadership from this government. This government are pussyfooting around, playing politics and ideology, fixating on looking after their union mates rather than showing leadership and taking responsibility for the crisis that is unfolding across our nation. Step up, Labor: you're at the helm now. You're not in opposition any more. Australians need you right now to drive the ship. This situation is going to get much worse if the Labor government continue to get the priorities wrong. The No. 1 priority in this country must be addressing the cost of living, not lining your union mates' pockets. Labor, get your act together and take responsibility. Please start to look after Australia and look after all Australians. Do your job, not your union mates'.

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