Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It doesn't take an economics degree to see that the socialist Labor government is addicted to spending taxpayer money—spending your money. They're running up the credit card for our kids to pay off. Right now they're spending $50,000 every minute just on the interest on the debt. They've added an extra $100 billion to the national debt since they took office. That debt is heading to be an eye-watering $1.2 trillion by the next election. This year we reached a milestone in South Australia—of course the 'People's Republic of Victoria' got there only two years ago. Every South Australian worker owes their government over $100,000, and that's not including local government debt. That's just state and federal. Let me say that again: every South Australian worker owes their government over $100,000, because government debt is not paid off by the government. It's not paid off by someone on welfare. It's paid off by the police officer, the school teacher, the farmer and the local retailer.

This city focused socialist Labor government is pouring money down the drain as farmers in South Australia reel from generational drought, as residents in Coober Pedy struggle to get the most basic of human needs and as fishers impacted by the algal bloom are on their knees. Regional South Australia is missing out. Labor make promises to the regions, but what do we see? We see 130,000 more Australians in the dole queue. We see electricity up 39 per cent. We see rent up 21 per cent. We see food costs up 16 per cent. We see average mortgages up $1,800 a month. We see spending up to 27 per cent of GDP and we see workers with only 30 bucks left each week. The only thing we don't see is where the money has gone. Where is it? Has it vanished? It's not in my electorate; I can tell you that for free. You cannot trust Labor with money.

Let's break it down roughly. We are paying $50,000 in interest per minute on Labor's debt. That's $72 million in interest per day. Now, $72 million could go a long way in regional South Australia. It could make a real difference such as by upgrading the Wallaroo Hospital, fixing the childcare desert and incentivising GPs to work regionally and remotely. It could provide funding to fix the Augusta Highway and finish the Strzelecki Track—in fact any rural or remote road in South Australia—and provide support for community housing in Port Pirie. It could provide funding to fix and reopen the jetty in Port Augusta and help businesses crippled by the algal bloom. These all seem like good projects. But what does Labor do? Where do they spend the money? They spend it on bailouts, handouts and vanity projects.

This isn't about policy; this is about trust. Labor promised stability before the election, and they've delivered nothing but chaos afterwards. They can't manage their own budget and they can't manage money, so they come after yours. We saw it with their chaotic attempts at fixing superannuation. Firstly they proposed an unworkable half-baked tax on unrealised gains—a move that would hit farmers hard. Then a backflip—a massive, embarrassing and messy reversal that the Prime Minister threw at the feet of his Treasurer to clean up in his absence. This isn't about policy; this is about trust. Labor's obsession with inner-city spending and confusing taxes is why cost of living is so high, why jobs are disappearing and why places like Grey—my electorate—are being left behind. They are leaving a $1.2 trillion debt bomb for the next generation.

There's an old saying: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Well, we are broke—flat broke—and the Australian economy does need fixing. But this big-spending, tax-happy government seems incapable of making the hard decisions needed. Labor must act now to stop the endless taxfest and hollow promises. It's time for them, like every other Australian right now, to live within their means. We need a government that believes in lower and simpler taxes, not a government that takes away from your nest egg or your right to work on the family farm. We need a government that delivers fiscal discipline and prepares for the future, not one that mortgages away, desperately trying to win inner-city votes. Simply, Labor must stop its reckless spending.

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