Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this matter of public importance because this is a debate about accountability, discipline and a treasurer who refuses point blank to take responsibility for his out-of-control spending, which is fuelling inflation and keeping interest rates higher for longer. After nearly four years of this Labor government, Australians are paying more for literally everything. Insurance is up 39 per cent, energy is up 32 per cent, rents are up 22 per cent, housing is up 19 per cent and food is up 16 per cent—I think you get the drift. But these aren't abstract figures. They're not just something that's rattled off in this place. This is real life. There are mortgage repayments, there are power bills and there are grocery bills, and they all keep rising.

While Australians have tightened their belts, this government hasn't. The Treasurer's own budget paper shows $50 billion—that's 'b' for 'billion'—in new discretionary spending in this financial year alone. Two-thirds of the increase in spending this year is the result of deliberate policy decisions taken by those opposite. Spending has risen from 24.3 per cent of GDP to 26.9 per cent. Debt is heading north of $1 trillion, and mortgage holders are paying around $21,000 a year more in interest repayments. That's the real-world cost of fiscal recklessness.

And, when you look at where the money's going, the problem becomes even clearer. We've had a bit of weather recently, and a lot of people have turned to the Bureau of Meteorology. Let's leave aside the fact that the new website still doesn't work as well as the old one. This was a project that was meant to cost $4.1 million and is now slated to cost the taxpayer around $96 million. That's $96 million for a website that Australians can't even rely on! That's millions of dollars funnelled out the door to big consulting firms. At CSIRO, more than half a million dollars a year is going to grounds maintenance at their headquarters and—wait for it!—over $100,000 a year goes to indoor plants and flowers. That is while staff positions are under pressure—seriously! And now we learn that Australia and Australian taxpayers are helping to fund a fleet of electric buses and boats. That's okay, until I tell you that those buses and boats are in Wuhan, China, to attract tourists and boost the climate resilience in a Chinese city—spare me! While Australian families are struggling with power bills and mortgage repayments, their taxes are being used to subsidise transport fleets overseas. That is the priority of those opposite using Australian taxpayer dollars. That's not cost-of-living relief; that's waste.

Billions have been committed to hydrogen and carbon capture experiments, while there's little to show for them in terms of reliable energy supply or lower power prices. Electricity prices, as I said, have surged over 32 per cent. Australians were promised, of course, $275 off their power bill, but that never happened. Instead, we've seen prices skyrocket, and, after all that spending, emissions reductions have flatlined. Billions have been spent. Power bills are up, and emissions are barely moving. That's not political success; that's waste laid on top of failure. And this is a pattern: spending up, debt up, power bills up, mortgage stress up, with accountability nowhere to be found.

The Treasurer blames global conditions, but global conditions didn't force the injection of $50 billion of discretionary funding into the economy this year alone. Those were choices, and, when you add that level of spending into an already inflationary environment, the Reserve Bank is left to do the heavy lifting. Higher spending means higher inflation. Higher inflation means higher interest rates. Australian families are once again left to carry the cost of the decisions taken by those opposite. Real wages have gone backwards. Income tax has risen through bracket creep. Mortgage interest rates have surged. Australians are working harder for longer and getting less.

That's why this motion matters. It condemns the Treasurer for refusing to take responsibility. It highlights $50 billion in discretionary spending. It recognises the burden that mortgage payers are under, and it calls for measurable budget rules, rules that will restore discipline, restrain spending growth and ensure windfall revenue is used to pay down debt, not fuel pet projects.

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