Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I didn't interrupt you, Minister, so you might just leave me to make my remarks. All the minister at the table did, all the member for Fenner did, was just play the person. His whole 10-minute speech was just picking off coalition member by coalition member.

But let's not get personal. It's not about us in here in the House of Representatives; it's about the people out there who are hurting and paying electricity bills which are far too high. Those opposite promised, on 97 occasions prior to the May election in 2022, that there would be a $275 reduction in those power bills. The member for Deakin, in his contribution, belled the cat, because he said, 'That line worked for three years.' Well, he's going to regret that interjection, because it was a line—in fact, it wasn't just a line; you could leave the 'n' out of that word—and it was uttered over and over and over again, and it was not true. It might have worked for three years, but it's not cutting through now. People's electricity bills, their power bills, are 40 per cent higher than they were before Labor came to office. That's 40 per cent more on household budgets. That's 40 per cent more on farmers and factories and people who are keeping the lights on in this nation.

This nation is hurting. The transport industry is struggling. We've got the construction industry in freefall. We've got so many sectors—Tomago this week. Everywhere you look in every state and every territory we've got people who are struggling to make ends meet. This is simply not good enough. And it's simply not good enough from a government who said they would address these issues. For 18 months all we heard about was the Voice. For 18 months they took their eyes off the ball. Then, when they decided to get focused about the economy, it was too late.

The economy has tanked and it's getting worse. Inflation is up this week. It's such a struggle for people, particularly for people who are paying rent or trying to get into their first home. We've got a housing minister who talks about building a million homes. Good luck with that, because it's just not going to happen on Labor's watch. You can say it as much as you like and you can say it as convincingly as you like, but it's not happening. The people out there in voter land aren't fooled. They certainly are not fooled, because every time they get their power bill, every time they go to the supermarket and go to the cash register, and every time they go to the bowser at the petrol station they are paying through the nose for the follies of the Labor government, for the mistakes of this government and for the shortfalls of this government. This government will pay for this just like ordinary, everyday Australians are paying through the nose every day of the week.

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