Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, I will. The Labor Party are very good at campaigning. You're very good campaigners—not so good at governing. I want to use Victoria as an example, and the member for Hawke—a very effective campaigner in Victoria. And we've heard the hubris from the other side, where they're counting all the other seats they want to take, including mine—though it's not even mine; it's the people's seat, the seat of Menzies. So you're not just happy with the election result; you're counting your chickens before they hatch.

Let's look at Victoria, where my seat is. The state of Victoria is not in a good state. The state of Victoria, which has had Labor governments for so long, is now the highest taxing state. The state of Victoria now has higher debt than all of Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania combined. When we think about the different parts of Victoria that are hurting most, I was struck recently by the Commonwealth Bank's assessment of which elements of society are actually feeling it harder than others when it comes to the cost of living. What struck me, when you compare CPI spending from the first quarter of this year to the first quarter of last year, those under 50 are doing it particularly tough. Again, the Labor Party like to bank people who are younger than 50 and say, 'Well, they'll always vote for us.' At the moment, those who are between 25 and 29 are doing it particularly tough. Their spending for the first quarter of this year is down more than any other category when compared to a year ago.

So again, when it comes to campaigning, those opposite like to brag and hold on to particular constituencies, including young Australians. But young Australians are finding it harder than ever to save for a house deposit, harder than ever to put food on the table, harder than ever to get ahead. They are now, particularly in the state of Victoria and where I'm from in Melbourne, asking what it is that a Labor government does for them. They can look no further than the state Labor government and ask, 'Is my quality of life better? Is it better than it was a year ago? If I'm going to look ahead the next five to 10 years, maybe I should look at how governance has been conducted in my home state of Victoria.'

Melbourne used to be the most liveable city in the world from 2000 to 2017. Since then it has slipped bit by bit and it is now ranked tenth. So people of Victoria are entitled to ask, 'In addition to the highest taxes, in addition to the highest debt, what is it that a Labor government is doing to help me have a better quality of life, spend more time with my family and do the things that make me happy?' The answer is not much except spin and campaigning, the things those opposite like to brag about and probably are good at, but they are not so good at governing. When young Australians looked at this budget, what did they learn? It confirmed a few things that they should be worried about, that real wages are stagnant despite the rhetoric, that the cost of living will continue to rise despite the talking points, that gas and electricity bills will continue to skyrocket. It doesn't matter what the media releases say, it's what those opposite are paying. Those opposite promised a reduction and people are paying more; that is on you.

They also note that inflation is remaining stubbornly high. We heard self-serving comparisons, including from the Prime Minister, about where we rank in inflation. The most important measurement of inflation is core inflation because it excludes those items that are more volatile and more sticky. When you exclude those, we have a record that we should not be proud of. The reason we should not be proud of it is because this budget and this government are adding to inflation, therefore, hurting all Australians but particularly younger Australians, who don't have any more spare money to spend.

Don't take our word for it. You may say, 'Of course, that's what a Liberal would say. That is what someone on this side would say.' We saw after the budget was delivered Chris Richardson say that this budget raised the chance that those in the RBA will 'swing the baseball bat' again. S&P Global Ratings said, 'Today's budget may add to inflationary pressures,' and BetaShares chief economist, David Bassanese said this was 'unambiguously expansionary'. When we look to the Labor Party, don't just look at the talking points. They may have hubris on campaigning but, for governing, it's not so good.

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