Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today on the appropriation bills 2025-2026. For those watching from home, these bills provide legislative authority for additional funding from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for decisions taken since the 2025-2026 budget, and that includes decisions announced in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The government is today seeking approval for $12.7 billion in additional appropriations, of which $9.1 billion is for ordinary annual services of government, $3.5 billion is for non-ordinary services and $9.2 million is for parliamentary departments.

Let me be very clear in saying that the opposition doesn't support all of the policies and programs that are contained within the budget. However, given the bills provide the legislative mechanism to fund government operations, we will not oppose or delay them. But appropriation bills and appropriation debates are one of very few opportunities in this parliament where we can examine the total list of operations of government and the direction of fiscal policy in this country, and those are the areas that I intend to address.

When I came to this place in the middle of last year, in my first speech here in the House of Representatives I made a comment that, in my time in this place, it is my duty and privilege to represent the people of McPherson, to share with this place their thoughts and their values and to work hard to ensure that they get the attention of government when they need it. I think about those words very often. In light of that commitment, I received an email from a constituent in Coolangatta only a couple of weeks ago, and I've had the opportunity since to go and meet with that particular individual and hear about their business. I did tell them I would put their concerns on the public record in this place, and I think it's appropriate for me to read out the email that I received, because, within the context of the debate that we're having here, it showcases the interests, the needs and the concerns of people in the area that I represent on the southern Gold Coast. The email that was sent to me said:

Dear … Mr Rebello,

My name is Paul … I am a veteran and co-owner—

of a small business in Coolangatta—

… a Mum and Dad small business established in 2012 …

We built this business ourselves. No safety net. No corporate backing. Just risk, hard work and long hours.

Right now, small business is being crushed.

More than 700 small businesses reportedly went broke on the Gold Coast in 2024. That is not a statistic. That is families losing livelihoods.

It is happening in our own street.

The Coolangatta Pie Shop—operating since the 1960s—will close on 30 June.

Waffle & Bean is gone.

Dreamtime Artistry is gone.

Established operators. Decades of trade. Gone.

Here is what we face:

Margins shrink. Risk rises.

We employed someone in good faith under a wage subsidy program. The employee resigned after just over three months. We met every obligation. We carried the cost. We received nothing.

That is not support. That is risk transfer.

…   …   …

Small business is constantly described as "the backbone of the economy." If that is true, policy must reflect it. We are not asking for favours. We are asking for a fair environment in which to operate.

That is the sentiment of many small-business owners across my electorate on the southern Gold Coast. As I said, I had the opportunity to go and sit down with Paul the day after he sent me that email, and we talked through some really serious issues. Paul is someone who had never reached out to a politician before.

The fact is, we're seeing—as, I'm sure, are colleagues across the political divide, but I know we are especially on this side, and I look at my colleague and friend, the member for Lyne—this becoming all too frequent, and it's becoming all too frequent because of the decisions that are made in this building. For the rest of my contribution, I'd like to speak to that record—to the full operations of this government. I'll start with something that we've spoken about on this side of the chamber quite often: record spending and record deficits.

Australia is currently running deficits, but it's not running deficits because our revenue is weak. It's running deficits because our spending is out of control. I know, in recent times, due to events happening around the world, the current Treasurer has been out and about speaking about those particular issues. I've said this in the past: there is no doubt there will be some level of contribution based on what's happening elsewhere, but we can't take away the fact that we have seen this record spending over the last three years. We've seen inflation running over the last three years as well.

In 2024-25, the Commonwealth raised $717 billion in receipts, which is 25.9 per cent of GDP—the highest level in 25 years. There is no shortage of revenue, but, again, we are running deficits because spending is out of control. This isn't the fiscal restraint that the Treasurer talks about. What have we seen? We've now seen a government—the Albanese Labor government—which has recorded the highest levels of government expenditure over the last 40 years outside a recession.

Spending as a percentage of GDP is projected to reach 26.9 per cent in 2025-26, 26.9 per cent again in 2026-27 and 26.6 per cent in 2027-28, so this isn't just a temporary blip on our record. This is something that is becoming systematic. Spending growth is running at four times the rate of the economy itself.

Now, when I speak to the small business owners, when they hear those sorts of statistics—that spending is outpacing economic growth in this country at such a level, four to one; that is not something that is sustainable—they know that they can't run a business like that. You can't run a household like that. So the fact that we've got a government who is prepared to run a country like that is concerning, and it's resonating with our small businesses. We've said it many times that we expect many things of the people we represent, and one of those is to be fiscally responsible. I think it is high time that we in this place practised what we preach and do the same, and it's high time that this government does that.

Since coming to office, spending is now $160 billion higher, or about $16,000 for every household in Australia. You'd understand that if we saw an increase in services provided to us to the value of $16,000. But I know—when I'm out in my community, whether it's in Burleigh Heads, whether it's in Coolangatta, in Currumbin, in Mudgeeraba—that people on the southern Gold Coast do not see value for money. They do not see that additional $16,000 per Australian household being injected through value back into their household. The small businesses in my seat don't see that either.

We are now on track to hit $1 trillion in debt. This is not in 10 years. This is not in five years. This is any day now. By the time we get to the next election, there's talk of $1.2 trillion in debt forecast. That isn't sustainable, and it's not fair. Not only is it not fair for us now; it's not fair for our future generations. And again, I draw back to my maiden speech—the founding principles of me being in this place—where I stood up and said that, as the youngest member of the coalition, I think it's important that I voice a very significant concern of the next generation. That is the debt burden that we are leaving them and the intergenerational fairness that that is creating—because, as we all know, each and every dollar that we borrow today must be repaid at some point. It's not repaid by us necessarily; it is repaid by our children and by our grandchildren.

The only way we can get around that is by establishing some sort of fiscal discipline. That is something that this government is lacking. High structural spending, which is locked into the budget, means fewer options in the future. It's less flexibility during downturns and less room for genuine emergencies. Responsible economic management means living within our means, and it means finding meaningful savings when we can, not just creative accounting.

We saw in Senate estimates recently that the Minister for Finance spruiked $114 billion in so-called savings. But what did we see when she was questioned and put under a bit more pressure? It became clear that they actually weren't savings at all; they were reallocations. Taking money from one program and shifting it into another one is not a saving. Instead of that, we're seeing $50 billion in new spending. So the fiscal guardrails have come off. I think being upfront and honest with the Australian people, which has been a longstanding tradition in this country, is something that has not been occurring as well.

Then we look at inflation, which Australians see every single day. Inflation in Australia remains much higher than it should be. This isn't something that we're seeing across the world. This is homegrown inflation. Make no mistake. This is the Treasurer's homegrown inflation. On 28 January, the ABS confirmed that headline inflation in the 12 months to December was 3.8 per cent. This is outside the Reserve Bank's target band. As we all know in this place, or as we all should know in this place, the Reserve Bank's target is two to three per cent. This is 0.8 per cent above the upper end of that target.

That all sounds interesting, but what does it actually mean? It means that every single Australian is paying on average up to 39 per cent extra on their electricity bills. Rent is up 22 per cent. I know in my electorate a lot of the young people in particular that I speak to really struggle to get into the housing market, not only because there's not enough supply; where they do find a place, they're competing with others and the rents are going up. Health is up 18 per cent, education is up 17 per cent and food's up 16 per cent. It's not that these are luxuries; these are essentials for people across Australia and essentials for people in my electorate. They are everyday costs that are hurting families. When you look at our inflation rate, we are a standout and we are a standout for the wrong reasons. If you compare us to comparable countries—the UK, 3.4 per cent; United States, 2.7 per cent; Canada, 2.4 per cent; Japan, 2.1 per cent; and Germany, 1.8 per cent—it's not a global phenomenon. Again, this is homegrown inflation. It's a domestic problem. We've seen this analysis backed in by senior economists. IFM's investor Alex Joiner has warned that fiscal guardrails have come off. Shane Oliver also said that many of the factors driving inflation do relate to government spending. Those of us on this side of the House know that when public demand grows faster than supply, inflation follows.

For those who have managed to get across the line and buy their first home, I come to this place as someone who has in the last five years not only rented, so I've had that first-hand experience, but also bought my first home. But for all of those Australians who have gone through that hurdle and bought their first home, they've now been dealt a blow with 13 interest rate rises that, again, are as a result of the government's increased expenditure, which the RBA is trying to counter by addressing interest rates. What does that actually convert to? It converts to the average Australian mortgage holder paying an extra $1,800 every month on their repayments. These are all significant issues. Again, we go back to that intergenerational fairness. We need to start thinking in this place about what legacy we are leaving for our children. The $50,000 every 60 seconds that we're paying on our debt is not sustainable.

We will support this bill. We don't support all the measures in this bill but we will support it. But we will not let a day go past as the federal coalition without reminding this government that it must think about all of those individuals like Paul from my electorate in Coolangatta who are doing it tough because of the decisions that are being made under this Labor government, under this Treasurer, who, frankly, should know better.

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