Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House notes that the Government:

(1) has been delivering on its plan for a better future over the 2022-23 summer break;

(2) is being a responsible and honest government, accountable and upfront with the Australian people in the tough times we face;

(3) is cleaning up the mess left to us by the Governments of Prime Ministers, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison; and

(4) will continue to deliver targeted and responsible cost of living relief to Australians in 2023 as part of delivering on our plan for a better future.

While campaigning in 2021 and early 2022, one of the big things I heard about from Boothby residents was the impact of the cost of living. By the time of the election they were talking to me about: the cost of power; the cost of fuel; the cost of food; the cost of school fees, child care, aged care. Everything was going up except their incomes. They knew that Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine was going to continue to impact the international energy market and that our energy market, after 22 failed plans, left us exposed to those international price hikes. And with the first interest rate rise coming through on 3 May 2022, 18 days before the election, it underlined that everything was heading in the wrong direction under the previous government.

Of course, what we did not know at that stage was that the then Minister for Energy and Emission Reductions, the member for Hume, had hidden a power price rise that had been due for release by the Australian Energy Regulator on 1 May, 20 days prior to the election. We now know that that notification should have told the Australian people that energy prices were expected to rise by up to 30 per cent. We didn't know it because of what, we are led to believe, was an amazing coincidence. On 7 April, four days before the former prime minister, the member for Cook, went to the Governor-General and, for the election, the Morrison government amended regulations so that the offer was not revealed until 26 May, five days after the election.

When I talk to Boothby residents now, the cost of living is biting. I hear them, I see them and I care. The difference now is that we have a government that has a well-thought-through plan and is acting on it, and a government that is open, honest and transparent with the Australian people. Australians don't like it when bad news is hidden from them for personal electoral gain. They like to be talked to as adults, not children. When we see the Treasurer speaking on the nightly news or on Insiders over the weekend he does not shy away from the fact that things are tough. He does not shy away from the impact this has had on Australians across the country. He cares. But he also explains the importance of following the strategy to provide cost-of-living relief in a way that does not drive up inflation but instead builds productivity, builds our way out of where we are, and we know this is beginning to work.

The economy is a big ship to turn and it takes time. But when we see that the biggest quarterly contribution to inflation was the March 2022 quarter, almost a year ago under the former government, the ship is starting to turn. Our energy plan, which was passed on 15 December when parliament was recalled, is already beginning to make inroads on the energy price trajectory. The price increase hidden from the Australian public by the former government in May 2032 was 30 per cent. By December, prices were predicted to increase by 36 per cent. Less than a month later, that is now down to 23 per cent, and the key conclusion from the Reserve Bank forecast released last week was that our energy plant is starting to take the edge of the energy market. In less than a month, the plan is starting to work.

So Australians are in good hands with the Albanese government's rigorous and meticulous three-point plan to address this wicked problem. The three-point plan is relief, repair, restraint. Relief refers to cost-of-living relief that does not add to inflation; and cheaper child care, cheaper medicines, fee-free TAFE. Repair is dealing with issues in the supply chain, including workforce issues. Again, I refer to cheaper child care, paid parental leave, more university and TAFE places, and to enabling those on the age pension to earn more before their pension is affected. We also backed a rise in a minimum wage because we value these often frontline workers, not forgetting they were the ones who took the risk to keep the country operating during the pandemic—shops, aged care and the like. But 10 years of deliberate wage suppression is not okay for anyone, not to forget the lack of investment in renewable energy, the cheapest source of energy and one where we would not be exposed to international price hikes. It's about time. And finally, restraint: showing spending restraint, as we did in in banking last year; a short-term boost in revenue and in targeting spending to where it will drive productivity and not drive inflation higher.

The Albanese Labor government is working strategically to address the clean-up of the mess left to us by the previous Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments, and we will continue to deliver targeted responsible relief.

The DEPUTY SPEAK ER: I thank the member for Boothby. Is the motion seconded?

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