Cameron Caldwell (Fadden, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The take-home message from this matter of public importance this afternoon is very simple. It's an important message for all of us in this place to remember, and that is that government spending and government decisions impact the lives of everyday Australians.

It is more than fair for all of us on this side this afternoon to draw a clear line between what this Labor government have done over the last three years and the way that everyday Australians feel about their lives and their hip pockets. There are many examples of how they feel about their hip pockets and the bills that are landing in the mailbox.

One example is in relation to mortgage expenses. As a result of government spending, inflation stayed too high for too long. The impact of that is that the Reserve Bank's hands are tied. There's only one mechanism that they can use to try and counteract what the Treasurer does, and that is to keep interest rates higher for longer. What does this mean for everyday Australians? It means that every single month the average mortgage holder is paying about $1,800 more on their mortgage than what they did when Labor first came to office in 2022. There are other markers that show why this Labor government is failing Australians: electricity prices are up by 39 per cent; gas, 39 per cent, rents, 20 per cent; and education, 17 per cent.

I was recently contacted by a mother whose got some children in day care at Hope Island in my electorate. They explained that their daycare costs have now gone up by 25 per cent over two years. At the last election you would have believed nothing other than the fact that Labor would deliver cheaper child care. But the reality is so different for the average Australian.

I have a few words on our Treasurer. In the last three years, Labor has added $100 billion to the national debt. We'll hit a trillion dollars this year and $1.2 trillion by the time the next election rolls around. The Treasurer is planning a decade of deficits, and now he has, really, one option in his sights, and that's to come after everyday Australians to help him pay for it. We know that the Treasurer wants to etch himself in the history books. He wants to be on the mugs and the tea towels out there in the parliamentary shop. But no other Treasurer has sat on that bench and been responsible for a higher level of national debt. That is an achievement not to be proud of.

After three years, the Treasurer offered up a three-day think tank. But that wasn't even real; it was staged, because we know that big government, big unions and big super had already decided what the outcome was going to be. Everything was already in the newspapers. We read about it. The coalition has clearly outlined markers for success, and Labor has failed them. You don't raise living standards by raising taxes, you don't raise living standards by raising the cost of doing business and you don't raise living standards by raising the burden on future generations.

The Treasurer wants you to believe he is careful with the nation's finances, but he has thrown out the budget rulebook so he can go on a spending spree at every Australian's expense. He's given himself a credit card, and it's got no limit. But the bill is going to be paid by every Australian—the ultimate buy-now pay-later scheme but with a repayment plan that's dumped on every Australian household. Over the last three years, Labor has racked up debt equivalent to every man, woman and child having a debt of $4,000. Australians deserve better, and the government's two strategies of debt and taxes are not a recipe for success.

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