Zhi Soon (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The shadow Treasurer has decided to bring us here today to talk about government spending, and it is my pleasure to join my friend the member for Forde in setting the record straight when it comes to some of the claims being made by those opposite. To begin with, the government has made no secret that inflation remains higher than we would like it to be. But that doesn't mean that we haven't made real progress since we came into government. The inconvenient fact for the opposition is that inflation is far, far below where it peaked under them and what we inherited from them. The decision of the independent Reserve Bank to raise the cash rate will be difficult news for Australian mortgage holders without doubt, including in my electorate. We understand the pressure this puts on everyday Australians, and the decision being widely expected won't unfortunately make it any easier.

The opposition insists that government spending is the problem. We saw a lot of talk about government spending's contribution to aggregate demand from those opposite at the House Economics Committee hearing last Friday. As the member for Casey on the other side helped prove for us, any year 12 economics students could tell you that government spending is a factor in aggregate demand. But the coalition's agenda of blaming it all on government spending does not align with the statement released by the RBA last Tuesday. That statement said very clearly that temporary factors and quicker-than-expected growth in the private sector were the primary drivers of the pick-up in inflation. In fact, the RBA statement didn't even contain the words 'government spending' at all in any context. This is in stark contrast to the claims of those opposite.

If anyone needed the advice to rein in their spending, it was probably the former members for Cook and Kooyong, because real spending growth under the former coalition was nearly 2½ times higher than it is under Labor. Even when excluding COVID era spending, which they claim as a defence, the opposition's average was 2.6 per cent per year, compared to 1.6 per cent. This is only possible because we have found tens of billions of dollars in savings, and $20 billion in the latest MYEFO alone, contributing to a grand total of $144 billion. And, as the House is no doubt aware, this Labor government turned a decade of Liberal deficits into two Labor surpluses. Labor is the party of economic management.

This motion also talks about fiscal rules. This government's fiscal rules are clear, which include reducing gross debt as a share of the economy and limiting real spending growth. It is hard to believe those opposite have the temerity to talk about fiscal rules. Their approach promised budget surpluses and didn't deliver one in nine years. Their fiscal approach promised to bank receipts upgrades but only returned 40 per cent on average, compared to our 70 per cent. Their approach promised to reduce net debt, but debt doubled—even before the pandemic. If those opposite really believed in doing what's best for Australians, they wouldn't have taken the unbelievable trifecta of higher taxes, bigger deficits and more debt to the last election.

At the end of the day, those opposite have spent the last nine months fighting with and amongst each other. The coalition may be back together—for now—but the whole country can see that, while the Liberals and Nationals are focused on themselves, the Albanese Labor government is focused on fighting for the Australian people and the people in communities just like mine of Banks.

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