Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2025-2026 and related appropriation bills. Let me be clear from the outset: the coalition won't oppose or delay the passage of these bills. While we don't support all of the policies and programs funded in this budget, these appropriation bills are necessary legislative mechanisms to fund decisions that the government has already made. But just because we're not opposing these bills does not mean we will remain silent on the reckless spending and bad choices that sit behind them. These appropriation bills authorise a further $12.7 billion in spending—$9.1 billion for ordinary services, $3½ billion for non-ordinary services and just over $9 million for parliamentary departments—on top of what was already a big-spending budget.

In the broader context, let's reflect on the fact that, this week, we've seen $15 billion siphoned away in CFMEU cartel mismanagement and corruption. We've got a $1.2 trillion debt bomb gestating under this government, and there's a whole range of inappropriate expenditure, mismanagement and poor decision-making that we see on a daily basis. While families in my electorate of Monash are being asked to tighten their belts—and many of those families have to make weekly decisions on whether to buy groceries and put food on the table for their families or to pay their bills on time—this government is not living by the standard that it preaches to ordinary Australians.

While this debate matters, I want to go into some examination of the flagrant spending that we are seeing under this government, because it is getting worse. It is putting Australian families at a disadvantage, it is hurting regional communities like mine and it is also putting us well behind the eight ball on our international competitiveness. We've got record levels of revenue in this country, and, I might add, a lot of that is thanks to our mining and resources sector, which funds the roads that we drive on, the hospitals that we rely on and the schools that educate our young people. We've got record levels of revenue. In fact, in the 2024-25 year the Commonwealth raised $717 billion in receipts. That's 25.9 per cent of GDP—the highest level in 25 years.

Despite this river of revenue flowing into Canberra, Australians across the country, particularly in electorates like mine, are staring down strong deficits. Why? Because record revenue is being completely outstripped by record spending and record spending growth by a government that treats taxpayers' hard-earned money like a credit card with no limit. You cannot run a household budget like this. You would have your shutters pulled down if you were a small business that operated like this. Yet, again, the standard the government expects of ordinary Australians is not adhered to by its own management.

The government is now the highest spending government, outside of a pandemic, in 40 years. Spending is growing at four times the rate of the economy, and national debt is heading towards $1.2 trillion. That is a debt bomb that generations of Australians still yet to come will be paying back. They are at a disadvantage before they even get a start in life. Since Labor came to office, spending has gone up by $160 billion. That is, when you think about it, about $16,000 for every household in this country. And the government has added $100 billion to the national debt in just a single term. This is not restraint. This is recklessness, and the consequences of that recklessness are showing up where Australians feel it most—at the checkout, on their power bills, in their rent and on their mortgage repayments. We've had 13 interest rate rises under this government. I would not be surprised if we see a 14th, which the RBA have left the door open to.

When you listen to people like Philip Lowe, a highly respected person, who served previously as the RBA governor—he has said that inflation is a homegrown problem and that inflation is being driven by government debt. On 28 January, the ABS confirmed that inflation rose to 3.8 per cent in 12 months to December. Trimmed inflation is at 3.4 per cent. Both of these figures are well outside the RBA's target band. After nearly four years of Labor, Australians are paying more for the basics. Insurance has gone up 39 per cent. I go around my electorate of Monash and I speak to community groups and not-for-profits in particular—those sporting teams and clubs that put so much back into our community and that live off the smell of an oily rag—and one of their chief complaints is the cost of insurance continuing to rise. It puts them at such a disadvantage. They work very, very hard to live within the constraints of a very tight budget. But these things have real impacts on communities like mine.

Energy has gone up by 38 per cent. How many times, member for Mallee, have we heard the government talk about their $275 bill reduction? I think we're nearly up to 100 times now. Energy has gone up 38 per cent. We've seen rent go up 22 per cent. I heard a very sad story during the election, when a lady came up to me outside one of the little IGAs that I was doing a listening post at, and she said her son, who was a truck driver—he's a single dad with a few kids. He was nearly homeless because—I won't mention the town, but in West Gippsland. He had to couch surf with friends because he could not get a rental property, and that was impacting his kids and the broader family. He moved back in with his mum for a period of time, but there are very real consequences for Australians who are doing it tough, who work hard, who do the right thing, who squirrel money away and who don't spend recklessly. They are hurting.

Health is up 18 per cent. How many times have we heard this prime minister say 'all you need is your Medicare card'? Health is up 18 per cent, and your Medicare card is not paying for that. People's credit cards are, and their savings are. Education is up 17 per cent. I thank Trudy, who wrote to me recently about the living away from home allowance. That is the same amount for kids living in metro and city areas as regional kids. Her children are doing it really tough. To the tradie who wrote to me and said he wanted to get some additional training and education to, as he put it, better support his family—he said the cost of supplies and reading materials for the course that he was doing on construction was the real cost killer for him. These are real people with real stories, and they're really hurting.

Food's up 16 per cent. I had a lady come out of the Coles supermarket in Drouin during the election campaign. She held up two bags of groceries and said, 'Mary, I can't get two bags of groceries for under $100 anymore.' It's just going up and up, and these are not luxuries; they're essentials. They're everyday costs that families, pensioners and small businesses cannot afford. I spoke with a group of financial counsellors in my electorate recently. We were talking about shoplifting from supermarkets increasing, and it's not luxury items. It's not entertainment items. It's meat, it's fruit and vegetables—essentials—because people are in desperate circumstances, turning to desperate measures.

It's not some global mystery, this inflation problem. Australia's inflation rate is now higher than in comparable economies like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and the Eurozone. Economists have been clear about why. I'll quote AMP's Diana Mousina, who has said, 'The government has been directly adding to inflation through record public spending.' Shane Oliver, a well-known and well-credentialed economic commentator, has said that many of the drivers of inflation relate to government spending. HSBC's Paul Bloxham has said that the key driver of inflation is not private demand but strong public demand driven by government spending. It could not be clearer. I'll go back to the Reserve Bank governor. Recently, there's been a lot of attention on her comments. Michele Bullock was at Senate estimates recently and again before the Standing Committee on Economics, where the governor confirmed that excessive aggregate demand, including public spending, is contributing to inflationary pressures.

What happens when inflation stays high? Interest rates stay higher for longer. The government is forcing the hand here of decisions that are being made on interest rates, and it is hurting everyday Australians. The Prime Minister and the Treasurer have been quick to take credit when interest rates have come down. They need to take responsibility for the fact that their spending decisions are making life harder for people in my electorate of Monash who are trying to pay off a house or, if they're a young person, trying to get a foot in the door and buy their own home.

While I'm speaking about my electorate, I will turn to some other points of these appropriation bills. In that context, I'd love to give a shout-out to some local wineries in my electorate. I love to say that, in Monash, we have world-beating products made by world-leading people. We've got the Phillip Island Winery, the Gurdies Winery, Purple Hen in Rhyll, Harman Wines at Wattle Bank, Dirty Three Wines in Inverloch and the Gippsland Wine Company in Loch. These producers are not just businesses; they are part of the fabric of our region. On behalf of the electorate of Monash, I say thank you for employing people, for bringing people to our region, for making world-class products and making all of us so proud of the very fine things that we grow, make and manufacture in the Monash electorate.

Across South Gippsland and Bass Coast, we've got wineries like Waratah Hills Vineyard in Fish Creek, Fleet Wines in Leongatha, Bass River at Glen Forbes, Silverwaters Vineyard at San Remo, Wild Dog Winery in Warragul and Brandy Creek Estate. They continue to showcase the very best of regional wineries anywhere in Australia. They're family run, small to medium producers. They employ locals. They support tourism. They provide hospitality experiences to draw visitors to our towns who spend money at our cafes, shops and accommodation providers. They continue to grow the identity and reputation of the Gippsland region as a premium food and wine destination.

But these businesses are being squeezed from all sides: higher energy costs, rising freight and transport expenses, increasing insurance premiums, labour shortages, declining discretionary spending as families tighten their belts. These businesses are resilient, but those banks of resilience are depleting, and the power bills keep coming. The compliance and red tape keep rising. Many of these businesses are struggling to keep their heads above water.

While this government pours billions into poorly targeted spending, it has already failed to provide meaningful relief to industries, like the wine industry, that are under pressure from inflation, cost-of-living pressures and weakening consumer demand. My local wineries, like any small-business sector, are not asking for special treatment. They're not asking for a handout. They're just asking for a fair go—a fair go to employ people and put back into their communities. They want inflation brought under control, they want interest rates to come down, and they want a tax system that encourages them to invest, employ and grow. Instead, they're getting a government that borrows more, spends more and taxes more.

Small businesses tell me they've never worked harder and faced more risk and red tape. It's a really tough time right now to be an Australian small-business owner, and I want to say to every small-business owner out there, right across Australia—in the Monash electorate and beyond—I am with you. The coalition is with you. We see the hours that you put in, whether it's servicing customers after hours, employing young people, sponsoring local sporting teams and community groups or getting involved in service clubs. We see what you do for the community. We back you, and we'll be there for you every single time.

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