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

As the member for Casey rightly pointed out earlier, the first steps to solving a problem is to recognise that you have one. Indeed, this government do not recognise a problem that is right in their faces. Inflation is rampant. It has increased by 3.8 per cent just recently. Again, we see another interest rate rise hurting families, hurting small business, crushing our economy. Government spending right now is the highest it has been in 40 years outside of the pandemic. It is a big-spending government. As the government gets bigger, we as a people become more dependent on said government and lose our freedoms.

Now, if you have the unfortunate nature to live in either the great state of South Australia, as I do, or Victoria—let's look at the debt that we've carried in both of these states. In South Australia, we reached a milestone last year. If you divide the debt of both the federal government and the state government by the workforce in South Australia, it is over $100,000 per worker and increasing. Your children and your grandchildren are going to be paying off that debt. That is what these big numbers mean. We have gone from 24 to 27 per cent of government spending as a percentage of GDP. Again, that is big government territory.

The Treasurer likes to present himself as a specialist, an expert in diagnosing the nation's finances with precision. He wants us to trust his credentials. But if you went to the doctor who ignored your symptoms, refused to make you a treatment plan and told you everything was fine while your fever spiked and kept rising, you'd be worried. That is exactly what we have in this Treasurer. He is running the economy with absolutely no plan to fix the patient. But we wouldn't be surprised, really. After all, he has no academic credentials. He does, however, have a PhD in political science, a PhD in spin.

Amongst the many complaints my office receives daily about inflation and rising costs, I was recently contacted by John McGahan, a retail worker from Port Augusta. John acknowledges that he was lucky to grow up in a time when things were affordable, but he can see things are now totally out of control. John rang my office to let me know about his deep concern he has for his niece and nephew, who he fears will never be able to afford their own home thanks to the spiralling cost of living under this government. The last figures from the ABS confirm what every Australian knows, what Graham from Port Augusta knows, and that is that under Labor the cost of living is totally out of control. This is just not theory or economic modelling. This is the weekly shop. This is the power bill. This is the rent and the mortgage. It is happening. It is real.

Inflation rose 3.8 per cent in December, accelerating over Christmas at the worst possible time for families. Let's take another look at the run sheet, at the facts and the figures. Insurance is up 38 per cent. Energy prices are up 39 per cent. Rent has climbed 22 per cent. Health costs are up 18 per cent. Education is up 17 per cent. Food is up 16 per cent. These are the things people need to survive, but the pain does not stop there. The average mortgage holder is paying around $21,000 a year more in interest than they were under the coalition—$21,000! And the rates have risen yet again. That is money stripped away from the family budget. Why is this happening? Because inflation is being driven by government spending. Labor's spending is the problem, and it's clear as day. Spending is an addiction. Spending is now at its highest levels outside of a recession in 40 years. Former head of the RBA Philip Lowe made it clear that inflation lasted longer in Australia because of Labor's spending addiction. We all know that when Labor spends, Australians pay.

The Treasurer's thrown out the rule book. He has given himself a credit card with no limit—borrow, borrow, spend, spend. In the last three years Labor has added $100 billion to national debt. The debt will reach $1 trillion in the coming months and $1.2 trillion by the next election. This is out of control. Like everyone else, the Treasurer must spend within his means.

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