Matt Gregg (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This afternoon, we have outrage unencumbered by self-awareness. The assistant minister asked earlier why the member for Hume wasn't in the chamber before. I think I can guess: it may have something to do with the fact that he, as the shadow Treasurer at the last election, proposed a budget that would have had a $7.9 billion deterioration in the first two financial years of a hypothetical Dutton government. When they wave the finger at big spending, they forget the fact that they were kind of for it only a few months ago. This isn't ancient history, and we're not going back to 2022 or 1981; this is recent history. They did not propose responsible spending measures. Now we have yet another misdiagnosis of economic reality.

Today is a tough day for mortgage holders; we shouldn't walk away from that. There are many people in my electorate, often described as part of the mortgage belt, for whom today is going to be a really difficult day—another weight on the shoulder. When something that serious happens, we have to take the issue seriously, which means we have to look at the driving factors that have led to it. The RBA says it's largely from the private sector this time—and that's not about a blame game or saying, 'The private sector has done the wrong thing'; it means we have to dig a little deeper.

What are the issues? One of them is that our demand is starting to be too high relative to our productive capacity. Where do we go from there? The Albanese Labor government has been investing in the productive capacity of our economy, skilling up our workforce with free TAFE and working to cut red tape. Since the productivity roundtable last year, we've seen a number of measures begin looking at simplifying government processes, ensuring that pieces of information don't have to be inputted more than once—time-wasting silly forms and things like that. They have been a focus of our government because we know that in order to support our industry, to support our economy to get that kickstart it needs at this point in time, we need to ensure we are as productive as we can possibly be. That means working with the private sector. It means ensuring we, as government, are setting an example by ensuring we're as being as efficient and effective as we can be. But we don't let fairness go by the wayside. We have focused on the impact of households, ensuring that medicines are cheaper and that young people and people returning to the workforce have access to the skills they need to get the job they deserve—and that in turn means employers have access to the labour they need in order to improve the way their businesses are operating and to maximise their profits in the long term.

Inflation is the most pernicious tax. It is something that affects all of us, and we as a country get nothing in return. The fight against inflation is real and important, and it's been one of the three focuses of the Treasurer in recent times. It is looking at doing what we can to support a reduction in inflation over time, ensuring we are resilient to global headwinds and making sure we are building productivity in our economy across the board—and that is exactly what we're doing.

Today is a very serious day, and that is why we need to talk about serious solutions rather than relying on tropes and cheap tricks and trying to throw blame about—'Is it the amount of money?' or things like that. The RBA has said the reasoning for its decision—the fact that private consumption has gone up in relative terms to public is there in black and white. It wasn't only in recent data; it was in the last monetary statement as well. It's right there in the ABS data. It's not a mystery. We also know there are variations between states in terms of what's going on in their economies—housing prices and increases in other particular prices. It is a complex set of circumstances, and that is why we have to work to deal with it in a very serious, very methodical way, rather than relying on what has, frankly, become cheap theatrics and predetermined indignation. We've got to take this job seriously. Governing isn't as simple as throwing away lines that might make the other side feel a little sad for a moment; it is about getting the important work done. It is about identifying what we can do to support the success of Australians and ensure that our economy is going at the best pace possible.

When we look at today's announcement, this isn't one of glee. It's not one where any of us should be saying, 'Job well done.' The job is nowhere near done. There is a lot of work to do. The good news is that this government is doing it. We are focused on the task of improving the economy, improving the impact that has on households in Australia.

Things are getting more expensive because of inflation. We need to deal with inflation, which means we have to take it seriously. Misdiagnosing it is not the solution to that problem. Simply throwing out political tropes, cheap tricks and saying, 'Your fault, your fault, your fault'—that does not get anything done. We need to invest the time in reading the full report by the RBA. Rather than drawing our own conclusions, rather than cherrypicking quotes from economists here, there and everywhere, the RBA tells us why they have made the decisions they have. Read the full document, and then we can have a serious adult conversation about what steps to take next. We should be taking the politics out of this. We should be a solutions focused parliament. It is the least we can do for the hardworking Australians who are having a very, very tough day today.

See this speech in context