James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We're reliably informed through the media that the National Secretary of the Labor Party gave the caucus a very important overview of his assessment of the public mood, the polling that they no doubt spend a lot of money on, talking about Australians and their concerns about cost of living, and wanting to make sure that the government is seen to be understanding those challenges, listening to people and focusing on them. I suppose this motion was on the Notice Paper before caucus was given that advice, but it's remarkable that, if that report is true, members of the government, like the member for Hunter, come in here and open with the immortal line, 'People stop me in the streets telling me what a good job I'm doing,' particularly when the evidence from their own national secretary is far from that being the reality.

People out there are really hurting right now. The government's view is that everything is awesome—like The LEGO Movieeverything is going so well: 'Just steady as she goes. Keep up the good work.' That is a frightening attitude from the government when their own national secretary, their top political operator, said that people are hurting and we need to make sure we're showing that we are prioritising the challenges they've got in their lives right now. Those challenges are deep and immense. In particular they relate to the household budget.

Of course, under this government, real wages are going down at the greatest rate in my lifetime. Inflation is at 7.8 per cent and wages growth is at 3.1 per cent, so under Labor there is a dramatic reduction in the earnings of the average Australian. We don't have the latest wage figures for the December quarter—they'll be out soon—but whatever the difference is between the wages growth figure and the inflation rate of 7.8 per cent is the amount at which people are going forwards or backwards. I doubt that wages grew at more than 7.8 per cent in the December quarter, and that means that, under this government, working Australians are going backwards. It seems that the Treasurer and the Prime Minister have effectively conceded that that will be the case for some time into the future.

While wages are going down, of course prices are going up—inflation is at 7.8 per cent—and interest rates are going up. They have gone up eight times under this government. A lot of people this year—800,000—are coming off fixed three-year mortgages and are refinancing. They are going to see their mortgage repayments more than double. And that's only so far. The Reserve Bank indicated, coming out of their decision last Tuesday, that there are multiple interest rate rises to come. The governor foreshadowed multiple increases. If things are already tough on the mortgage front, regrettably, for Australian families they are only going to get tougher as interest rates continue to rise.

We're also seeing property values fall—in nominal terms, let alone in real terms. Property values are going down, but, when inflation is going up at 7.8 per cent, it means that, even if property prices stay the same, in real terms prices are decreasing. Unfortunately, in nominal terms they're going down. When you add inflation to that, there are some markets in this country where property prices have fallen by 20 per cent. So the value of your property is going down, the cost to service your mortgage is going up and your wages are decreasing. That is the reality under this government.

At the same time, despite their big promise on power prices—to reduce bills by $275 a year—instead they are going up dramatically: electricity by more than 50 per cent and gas by more than 40 per cent. We've seen in Victoria today a major story about the huge burden in that state regarding gas prices. Regrettably that is going to be a story we consistently see going forward. The government's own plan involves those prices going up, despite their promise to reduce electricity prices by $275 a year. That's the reality under this government.

The cost of living is continuing to dramatically squeeze every Australian family. At the same time as those hardships are being endured, members of the government are bragging about their record in this chamber. They are talking with pride about the way in which they are managing an economy that is seeing real wages go down, cost of living go up, housing prices fall and the pressure of mortgage payments dramatically increase month after month. Well, I have to say to the government: if that's what you're proud of, don't get too comfortable on that side of the chamber, because your time there is going to come to an end very, very soon.

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