Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know members opposite, particularly on the backbench, are required to do one thing: read out the talking points. That's all they're allowed to do. But, gosh, that was extraordinary! I think we had five minutes there, and in the last 15 seconds the member for Forde decided to finally talk about the government and what they had achieved. He rattled off a quick list. If you speak to anyone in the community, they're not feeling that. They've never had it tougher. They are struggling to put food on the table, and we have a government that is full of spin—which we just saw from the member for Forde; I have no doubt we'll see it from those opposite—talking about the opposition. They were talking about the opposition being in government for 10 years. Well, newsflash, you've been in government for four years now and counting. Take responsibility for your actions.

This economic cost-of-living crisis we face today sits directly with this government. It sits directly with the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. The scary part for the Australian people is they're doing it so tough right now. It feels like they are on an economic treadmill. They are running harder and harder every day. The speed on that treadmill is going up because of this government. It is getting harder to stay on that treadmill, and it gets worse. The solution over the four years that this government has had for the Australian people on that economic treadmill is to feed them fairy floss. This government has fed the community economic fairy floss and sold it to them like a solution. But the problem with giving fairy floss to a young person as a parent—or anyone else—is it feels good for a moment, but, if they keep eating it, it makes them feel worse and it actually makes the situation worse for them. And that's what this government has done over four years.

This treasurer has either deliberately misled the Australian people by not understanding what is happening—with basic economics 101—or this treasurer does not understand what's happening and is misleading people. Either one is unacceptable. We have a situation where he is misleading this House and the Australian people. On Tuesday 3 February, the Treasurer was talking about government spending, saying, 'It was not a factor in the decision that the RBA took today.' Not a factor at all, the Treasurer said.

Well, I had the opportunity on Friday in the Economics Committee to speak to the RBA governor and asked the RBA governor a question from Matt from Lilydale. He had two questions—a member of my community because that's what we're here to do, represent our communities. His questions were: How is the government spending affecting the economy? Has it contributed to the rate rise? Those are very simple questions that all Australians want answered. What did the RBA governor say? She said:

… I could summarise. Government spending is part of total spending and total aggregate demand in the economy. So it, along with private spending, contributes to aggregate demand. And so, to the extent that aggregate demand is above aggregate supply, which we think it is, that's contributing to inflationary pressures. That's why we've decided to raise interest rates just a bit.

Black and white—it is Economics 101. It should not take the RBA governor to confirm what is basic economics. But, when you've got a Treasurer that does nothing but spin, you need the RBA governor to explain that. As I said, when you have an economy that is being run on fairy floss, it is going to make the Australian people sick.

That is what we are seeing today: interest rates are up, inflation up. The RBA are not predicting that we will hit the band until 2027 if we're lucky, which means interest rates are going to go up even further. Real wages are forecast to be backwards this full year. What does 'real wages' mean? We always talk a lot about economic terms. What it means for the Australian people is that you'll have less money in your pocket and that that money will buy you fewer goods at the supermarket. It will make it harder to get ahead every day. And we have a government that refuses to acknowledge the problems. We have a government that has made the problems worse. We have a government that continues to spin. They continue to tax and they continue to spend.

In a high-inflation environment, we are seeing this government be the highest spending government in 40 years outside of COVID. In no way should you be the highest spending government in 40 years in a high-inflation environment. There are those opposite that know that. They understand the basic economics, but they also know they have nothing to say, because they can't. They've got to follow the Treasurer's talking points. That's all they're allowed to do.

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