David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

In the last 24 hours, we've seen a treasurer that has refused to accept any culpability for not just yesterday's rate rise but also the 12 that have preceded that over the long four years that he has been the Treasurer of this country. That has added an extra $23,000 to the mortgage bills of Australian families and Australians right across this country. Their standard of living is being torn apart by a treasurer that has forgotten the fundamentals. While writing a 6,000-word essay, he has forgotten about what actually drives inflation—about his responsibility in spending and the influence of that on inflation.

In the last six months, those on that side have spent $50 billion out of government coffers. That is fuelling this inflation, putting pressure on Australian families and driving down their standard of living. In fact, our real wages in this country have reduced to 2011 levels. It will take 19 years for Australian families and Australians to get their real wages back to where they were previous to that. That shows the anaemic growth that this treasurer has presided over, thinking that big government can do it all and that the government knows best with Australian taxpayers' money.

But all they have done is forgotten the fundamentals. And this has driven inflation, whether it be in education by over 17 per cent, electricity by 40 per cent, insurance by 39 per cent, food by 16 per cent or rent by 22 per cent—22 per cent not just for rent but also for the lift in housing costs that has also been exacerbated not by spending but by a migration policy that has increased demand while supply has been flat. This government has brought over a million new people into this country without even having an understanding of the priorities of who they are bringing into this country. We are giving the greatest gift we can give to any person on this planet: a ticket to Australia. So why wouldn't we prioritise the people that have the skills that we need to build homes, to ensure that we address the supply of housing and say to young people that they can hope to own a home one day and may actually be able to afford rent. That is what real governments would do. That's what a treasurer would do: understand that it's not just about spending money; it's about pulling the levers. It's about pulling the right levers that will ensure that we give hope to young Australians and to every Australian that we can all enjoy the opportunity of homeownership or simply of having a roof over our head.

That is a government that has lost sight. Instead, over the last three years, they've prioritised dog groomers and martial arts instructors over the tilers, roofers and plumbers that might be able to build the supply that we need. That's just common sense. That's what has been lost by this government: understanding what the fundamentals are that drive our nation's economy and what they can do without having to spend your money. That is what real leadership should be, and that's where the Treasurer has missed this opportunity. For him, after four years, to try and walk away from his track record of 13 interest rate rises that have cost Australians an extra $23,000, taking it out of their pockets and putting it into the banks' pockets, shows that this treasurer is out of touch with what real Australians are feeling.

There will be Australians tonight that can't afford to put dinner on the table. And the reality is this: energy is the economy. If we are going to fix the fundamentals of what is driving inflation, what we can do as legislators is ensure that we are pulling the proper levers to bring down those energy costs and ensure that, right through the economy, whether you're buying food or building a home, you can drive down those costs, put downward pressure on inflation and therefore take the pressure off the Reserve Bank. That is what this treasurer has missed and what this government has missed because of an ideology—an ideology that you are all paying for.

The reality is that we were told of this green dream of an all-renewables approach. Let me tell you that it was meant to be cheaper and it was meant to be greener. The reality is, since the energy minister and the government have taken over, all we have seen is a continual increase in energy prices flowing right through to your grocery bill, right through to the construction of homes. So if you're not prepared to tackle the fundamentals then unfortunately you're going to continue to drive up inflation and you are not going to fix the problems of this country.

We could have a targeted migration approach. We could pull a lever and reduce the mass migration that we are seeing. We could also have a policy on energy that will actually drive down prices. Let me tell you, there are three quick ways we can do that in the here and now. In fact, the Prime Minister today could sign to scrap the safeguards mechanism penalty that is imposed on energy generators. This government is taxing energy generators every year to reach unsustainable emissions reductions targets of nearly five per cent every year. The safeguards mechanism was about using technology to reduce emissions. If the technology doesn't exist, lo and behold, what you have to do is buy offsets. Offsets are a cost and that cost goes onto your energy bill. The good generators and distributors are not going to wear that; they're going to pass that on to the Australian consumer.

So I challenge the government today, if they are serious about reducing energy bills—we've forgotten about the $275 that was promised to come last year that is never going to happen—then they need to be honest, look the Australian people in the eye and get rid of the safeguards mechanism today. That will drive prices down immediately.

We also need to ensure that the capacity investment scheme that is skewed to bringing new generation of renewable energy—not whatever energy that can be brought onto this grid—should be expanded to every source. We should have a technology agnostic approach to ensure we get supply into the grid. That's just simple economics. I learnt in grade 8 at Chinchilla State High that it's all about demand and supply. The reality is if you increase supply then the prices will come down and that is the opportunity for expanding the capacity investment scheme right across to any technology model of energy. It would also say to the Australian Energy Market Operator that you will change your mandate from sourcing energy predicated on a renewable energy target or on a reductions emissions target to one that sources the most affordable and cheap energies. They are three quick ways that this government, with a stroke of a pen, could fix today. That's the reality of what this government has missed because of an ideology of effectively getting an energy grid that will be over 90 per cent renewables.

We're not against renewables; we're just saying you have to get the balance right. If you want to look at a world example, look at Portugal and Spain. They had a red-hot crack. They got to 77 per cent renewables and they lost their grid because they didn't have this thing called baseload power. You need baseload power to ensure that when there's a wind drought or a sun drought that the grid can continue effectively and will not have to be restarted. That's why they lost their grid for a period of time. That is where we are opening ourselves up to sovereign risk. They are connected to continental Europe but we'll have nothing. We will have zero redundancy built into our grid. We're not saying we should walk away from emissions but we're saying we'll do what the rest of the world is doing.

We are currently around 1.1 per cent of global emissions. That's actually including India and China. If we were to take them out, we'd be under one per cent. We've said, 'Well, let's keep pace with what the rest of the world's doing.' While the rest of the world, the OECD, are only reducing their emissions by 1.7 per cent every year, the Albanese government is asking the Australian people to reduce their emissions by 4.7 per cent per year. They are streaking ahead and that means the cost of it gets put into your energy bill through the safeguards mechanism, because that is a tax on energy generators that they have to pass on to you.

There are simple solutions. I challenge this government today: if you were in touch with the everyday Australian out there, you would understand the hurt families feel when they are paying an extra $23,000 just on their mortgage, and that is before you start talking about their education costs, about their insurance, about their food. There are Australian families that will not be able to put food on the table tonight. In a country as rich as this, that is an embarrassment. It is an embarrassment on this place that we have not had the courage to look ourselves in the eye and look the problem square in the face and say, 'There are solutions right here in the here and now and in the long term. We are energy rich. If we open our minds up to the opportunities and solutions across every spectrum then that will make sure that young Australians can have hope one day to own a home.' Young Australians might then feel as though they can actually have a lifestyle that we've taken for granted for so many years. That's the commonsense that I challenge this government on—to walk away from the ideology that might give them the kudos on an international stage but leads them to forget the average, everyday Australian that feels this every day and that has the shame of not being able to take their kids on a holiday, to send them to the school they want or even to put dinner on a table. Australians are better than that, and they deserve a better government than that.

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