Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that Australian households are worried about increasing pressures from the cost-of-living crisis brought about by recent interest rate rises and continued inflation;

(2) notes that:

(a) consecutive interest rate rises since May 2022 have placed mortgage stresses on many Australian households and more rises are expected;

(b) Australians are hurting, but in its budget, the Government failed to outline a plan to take pressure off interest rates; and

(c) Australians cannot wait another seven months for the Government's second budget to come up with a plan to deal with cost-of-living pressures that have become very real and painful for so many;

(3) recognises that despite telling Australians their power bills are going up by more than 50 per cent, their mortgage payments will continue to rise, the cost of groceries will remain high, and inflation will continue to surge, the Government still has no plan to tackle this cost-of-living crisis; and

(4) calls on the Government to focus on the issues that matter to Australians and to deliver a real and comprehensive plan to ease inflation and cost-of-living pressures.

The No. 1 issue that I hear when travelling around the electorate of Flynn is that people are struggling with the cost of living. This is why I've introduced today's motion as a matter of urgency. I've been inundated by emails and calls from retirees, families and working people who are hurting every time they go to the supermarket, every time they open their electricity bill, every time they get a letter from their banks announcing interest rate rises and every time they fill up at the fuel bowser.

I want to share some stories that I've been told. A Gracemere based resident said that some weeks she doesn't have enough food to feed herself. She has had to sell her family heirloom jewellery and her only sofa just to pay her rates. This is unsustainable. A Gladstone based resident said that she was unable to go to the doctor due to the increased cost of living and the high cost of appointments, with no bulk-billing services available. A Mount Morgan retiree said that she has decreased her trips to Rockhampton to get groceries because of the price of fuel. A small-business owner said that just one of his current electricity bills shows an 11 per cent increase in tariff and a 36 per cent increase in metering charges. He said in an email to me:

This current federal government had spruced election promises of lower electricity prices and that all these installed renewables provide cheaper supply; however, the real-world evidence does not support their claims. As you are in opposition it is your responsibility to hold the government to account at every opportunity. I would ask you pressure this new federal government and the state government on behalf of those small businesses and families who must financially pay for all of this as we are on an unsustainable track.

On 97 occasions, the Prime Minister promised Australians that their bills would go down by $275. Well, where is that reduction? The biggest missed opportunity is that the Labor budget does little to address the root cause of inflation. To help Australians facing rising prices, we need to tackle the source, not just the symptoms, of cost-of-living pressures. The budget fails to use fiscal policy to make any headway to reduce pressures on inflation—the source of the pressure. Instead, the budget raises a white flag on inflation. At the same time, the budget has forecast rising pressures on Australians. Meanwhile, since the budget was released, we have seen annual inflation hit 7.3 per cent, the highest level in more than three decades.

The Reserve Bank, ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, among others, have now forecast end-of-year inflation to be higher than what was contained in the budget. Stephen Koukoulas, former economist to Julia Gillard, has said the budget puts no downward pressure on inflation, leaving the RBA with all the work and 'carrying the can' in getting this inflation rate lower. They will undoubtedly raise interest rates further to counter the unhelpful government fiscal policy and other legislation.

Already, a family with a $750,000 mortgage is paying more than $1,200 extra every month on its repayments compared to May this year. The Prime Minister said Labor had a lasting plan for cheaper mortgages. With expectations from Goldman Sachs that the cash rate could rise five more times in the next six months, Australians are facing more and more increases on their mortgage repayments. Not only has the government broken their promise; they have absolutely no plan. This government is just making a bad situation worse.

In conclusion, this motion acknowledges that Australian households, including in my electorate of Flynn, are worried about the increasing pressures from the cost-of-living crisis brought about by recent interest rate rises and continued inflation. This government needs to focus on the issues that matter to Australians and deliver a real, comprehensive plan to ease inflation and cost-of-living pressures.

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