Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

The cost-of-living crisis is having devastating impacts in regional Australia and the Calare electorate. It's a grim picture. In the 12 months to January 2026, Australia's inflation rate was 3.8 per cent. Electricity and gas prices continue to be a major source of financial strain. Persistent increases to food prices have climbed across many essential categories, including fresh produce, meat and dairy, and they contribute significantly to everyday household budget stress. Interest rates are going up, and, along with it, mortgage stress is on the rise. Fuel prices continue to rise. Home, car and health insurance premiums are rapidly increasing. Overall, these essential costs are rising faster than wages, and country Australians are hurting as a result. Businesses are struggling to stay afloat. A constituent from Lithgow contacted me recently and said: 'I'm writing because, frankly, I've reached my breaking point. I care for my mum while barely surviving myself. I live in fear of rent hikes that could leave me homeless. Lithgow has no mental health services for people like me. Waitlists are a joke, and I've been told to just call Lifeline. Last week, I chose between feeding myself and feeding my cat.' My constituent goes on to write: 'I don't want platitudes; I want a plan. It feels like no-one in power cares if people like me live or die.'

A constituent, Peter, who is a pensioner, also wrote to me and said, 'I am writing to express deep concern regarding the rising cost of living, particularly its impact on pensioners residing in Orange.' Peter highlighted the rising cost of electricity and said: 'The daily supply charge of electricity has now reached $1.80, a staggering increase of 50c per day. For pensioners on fixed incomes, this is a significant burden. It raises the question: where can one afford to live and still enjoy a modest quality of life?'

Another constituent, Jason from Mudgee, wrote to me and said: 'Across Mudgee and the wider Calare electorate, people are feeling the cost-of-living crisis more severely than those in metropolitan areas. Yet the federal government continues to rely almost exclusively on interest rate rises as its main economic tool, despite this being outdated and increasingly ineffective. This lack of modern thinking is failing regional Australians, who are already under pressure from high fuel prices, rising rents and house shortages, soaring groceries and supermarket price manipulation, steep increases in insurance and energy bills, supply shortages affecting farmers, tradies and small business, and wages that aren't keeping up with inflation. Meanwhile, the sector's actually causing inflation. Energy companies, insurance giants and supermarkets continue to operate without meaningful accountability. Other advanced countries have modernised their inflation tools. Australia has not.' Jason goes on to state, 'Regional Australians cannot be expected to carry the weight of poor policy decisions made in Canberra.'

Jason makes very good points, as do all of my constituents. Nearly one-third of Australia's population, around seven million people, live in regional and rural areas. But this gap between city and country is only getting wider, and it's being exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis. Country people have 15 per cent lower incomes and 22 per cent lower net household worth compared with those living in metropolitan areas. Country people face 30 per cent higher costs for essential food items, such as fresh fruit and vegetables and bread. Country people experience inequitable health outcomes, including higher rates of hospitalisation, chronic disease and premature and preventable death. Country people face greater housing insecurity and overcrowding and greater housing affordability issues. Country people experience rental stress above the New South Wales state average, with more than 38 per cent of households affected in the regions. We have growing social housing waitlists, with nearly 26,000 vulnerable households across regional New South Wales seeking secure housing. Homelessness is a rising issue, with rough sleeping surging by 51 per cent since 2020, primarily driven by an increase in the cost of living. Homelessness in regional communities just keeps continuing to grow.

The cost-of-living crisis is having devastating impacts in regional Australia, and country people shouldn't bear the brunt. We are calling on the government to take immediate and urgent action to address this cost-of-living pain and the devastation that it's causing.

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