Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Flynn, like myself, is a member of the class of 2022 in this 47th Parliament. However, unlike me, the member has arrived in this place with some years of political experience, having previously served in the Queensland parliament from 2017. This begs a question that perhaps is a sign of my own naivety: why do those opposite insist on giving this government opportunity after opportunity to speak on the responsible work of our Treasurer and finance minister and illustrate what a mess we've inherited? For what reason the member for Flynn has decided to carry this candle, for his side, remains a mystery to me.

Only a few days ago, I had the honour of reminding members in the Federation Chamber of the virtues of the Albanese government's responsible economic management, thanks to a motion from the member for Menzies. Now the member for Flynn has obliged me. This government has been upfront and honest about the fiscal and monetary challenges we've inherited, and we are taking decisive and targeted action. Treasurer Chalmers' budget, delivered in October, begins the task of dealing with inflation, the deliberate low-wages policy of the former government and debt caused by years of lazy and wrongheaded government. I believe that if the member for Cook were still Prime Minister—busily sharing portfolios with some of those opposite—the same cost-of-living pressures would be present but there would not be the same will or capacity to act. This government is acting.

We are investing in cheaper early childhood education, giving a million families more options; making PBS medicines cheaper, to ease costs and keep people healthier; and getting wages moving again, empowering workers to earn more. As a stark point of difference, this government has prioritised paying down the trillion dollars of Liberal debt. Addressing the cost of living must involve keeping a lid on inflation. Despite the incessant shrieking and scaremongering from those opposite, Treasury modelling has confirmed that the Chalmers budget is the responsible way to move forward without exacerbating inflationary pressures. Those pressures are mostly coming from the global environment, as members well know. Government policy must be directed towards softening the blow, flattening the curve and preparing for recovery in the medium and longer term.

Addressing the cost of living means taking a hard look at energy policy and doing the right thing. The coalition is no stranger to developing energy policies. They tried to do quite a few but never landed a single one. The true path to long-term sustainable, lower energy prices is the rapid transformation to a green energy economy based on renewables, a dependable grid and forms of storage including batteries. Just today I read about the Norwegian company Equinor investing in offshore wind generation in Australia. Is there anyone in this chamber who seriously believes that we would be attracting the levels of investment and interest that we now see if the Minister for Climate Change and Energy wasn't active in this space, if he hadn't designated offshore zones and introduced legislation to support them, if we hadn't passed the climate change bills? I note that when the member for Flynn had a chance to support the climate change bills, a couple of months ago, he squibbed and voted against them. The member for Flynn is reported as having said that renewal energy is fantasy. He should take action against the newspapers if this is not true, as it seriously makes him look foolish.

Another important way to combat the cost of living is to ensure that wages haven't flatlined, especially where they haven't kept pace with either inflation or productivity. We have had nine years of coalition governments where low wages were a deliberate design feature of their policies. Now the Albanese government has supported wage rises for low-paid workers and has brought legislation into parliament to get wages moving again. I note that the member for Flynn voted against that legislation last week too.

Flynn did rather well, though, out of the first Chalmers budget handed down a month ago. The commitments made for Flynn by candidate Burnett and the Labor team are all there, funded in the budget. I count 21 across the electorate, from Gladstone to the Highlands, including a long-awaited pool at Boyne/Tannum and upgrades to the Bruce Highway. I'm the member for Hasluck, so I shouldn't have to stand here and tell the people of Flynn how good the Albanese government is to them, but I know that the member for Flynn isn't going to do it. He's just going to sit there polishing leather with his climate denier's hat on and, when confronted with a list of commitments as long as your arm and all funded in the budget, will say—and I quote from the Courier Mail on 27 October:

I wouldn't hold my breath with some of these commitments …

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