Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Absolutely, Member for Durack; we're going round in circles, in some sort of holding pattern, with inflation high because spending is so high.

When you listen to the miserable excuses from the Treasurer like, 'Oh, read the fine print'—people aren't interested in the fine print in the discussion; they're interested in the decision. They're interested in what happens to their household mortgages and what happens to their bank balances. I don't think this government has met anyone running a battling small business today but we have, and I have. If you go into any small business, they will tell you: 'Nobody's spending money. Everybody's worried. Kids are going back to school. Everything costs more. How do you pay for everything that the schoolkids need as they go back? How do you look at the credit card balance after Christmas?' It's really tough times.

The point I make very clearly is: if you listen to this government, they don't understand it. We are on our own here; I make that point. Every time you hear the Prime Minister say, 'Oh, it's all part of the big picture internationally; we're all working together,' he has no understanding. Two years ago, Australia had lower interest rates than the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and the euro area. Today, after this rate increase, Australia will have higher interest rates than all of them—and we need to let that sink in. Canada has cut interest rates nine times without a single increase. New Zealand has cut nine times, the euro area eight times, the US six times, the UK six times. We stand alone not because global conditions are different here but because the government have made the Reserve Bank's job harder, not easier, with their reckless spending.

The simple truth is this: inflation is staying higher for longer because Labor have spent too much, have borrowed too much and have refused to put guardrails around government spending. That's not the Liberal Party saying that; it's economists—the economists that the Treasurer clearly despises because they don't agree with him; he'll be on the phone now, giving them a piece of his mind. He always tells them they need to back him in. But today, and this week, and this month, and this year, they haven't and they won't. It's economists saying this.

It's businesses saying this. This morning the Australian Financial Review reported that big business is urging the government to cut more than $50 billion a year in spending to help tame inflation. Big business don't always come out and have a lot to say about what the Labor Party, or even the Liberal Party, is doing. They stick to their knitting, as they should. They're getting on with the job. But even they have come out to say—wow. Cut $50 billion a year in spending—that's their advice.

Shane Oliver, well-respected chief economist for AMP—another chief economist that was pooh-poohed today by the Treasurer—said very plainly:

The best thing that Australian governments can do to help bring down inflation would be to cut government spending back to more normal levels …

We hear this excuse: 'It's the private sector.' What the government has done is shrink the private sector by increasing public demand. The private sector is shrinking, but the private sector is the one of people who take risks, who give back, who build this country, who build our communities. That's the private sector. Those are the battling small businesses that we walk into every day of the week. That's who's hurting right now. Those are the people that this government does not understand. It flows into every sector of the economy and every household.

Under Labor, the cost-of-living crisis is just getting worse and worse. It's not modelling; it's lived experience. What does that mean? What do these numbers mean in real terms? Insurance is up 39 per cent. Electricity is up nearly 40 per cent. Rent is up 22 per cent. Health costs are up 18 per cent. Education is up 17 per cent. Food is up 16 per cent. I'm not reading out luxuries; I'm talking about essentials.

While families are tightening their belts, Labor keep spending. Every time they answer a question in this place by talking about money they're spent, I just want people to think of two things. We are paying—this country is paying—$50,000 a minute in interest on the debt. That's not going to Medicare. That's not going to schools. That's not going to hospitals. That's not going to tax relief. That's just interest on the debt. This is a government that is very generous with borrowed money.

And every time more money is borrowed—and it is; we're heading towards $1.2 trillion in debt—people need to think, 'What does that mean for the next generation?' It's them that I think of today. It's the next generation who can't find a pathway into a home, whose rents have gone up 22 per cent. It's gen Z and millennials who say, when asked, that the biggest worry they have is the cost of living and whether they will ever be able to afford a home. There's no time to talk about this government's dismal record when it comes to building houses, but trust me: it is incredibly dismal indeed, and Labor's debt is climbing fast and making it harder and harder. It's not fair on the next generation. It's not responsible. It's intergenerational recklessness.

Now, with today's announcement, the average mortgage holder is paying around $23,000 a year more in interest than they did under the coalition. Monthly repayments are up around $1,800. And small businesses are going under at record rates, as the member for Goldstein reminds us. He's in those small businesses too, and he knows the pain they're feeling. Nearly 15,000 collapsed last year. These are not statistics; these are families and livelihoods.

Labor treat these small businesses like an ATM. They pile on more costs. They pile on more debt. They pile on more red tape and regulation. Senator Bragg in the other place made some very strong announcements yesterday about red tape and deregulation, because that's what we want to do. We want to take this pain away. We want to give people the capacity to grow stronger, build their businesses and contribute to their community.

The Liberal Party believes in aspiration—that, if you work hard, if you play by the rules, if you do your best for your kids, if you contribute to your community, you should be able to build a better life. But that promise feels distant today because Labor have lost control of the budget, and they've lost control of the economy. We believe that you must live within your means. It was the first statement I made as opposition leader—how we do, in fact, have fiscal guardrails, live within our means and recognise that we should do that because that's how we deliver fairness to the next generation, and it's how we look after the vulnerable.

Our plan is clear. We will ease the squeeze. We will fix the budget. We will keep Australians safe. We will rein in the reckless spending. We will respect every single taxpayer dollar. We will always back small business. We'll make energy more affordable, and we will restore confidence that hard work in this country is always something to reward, not something to punish. Australians deserve better than the higher prices, higher rates and higher debt they're getting. That's the alternative the Liberal Party offers.

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