Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak to the brutal reality of what this Labor government's budget has delivered. This budget is a formal declaration of economic surrender. What we're seeing is an administration that has completely run out of ideas and run out of money. As we all know, when Labor run out of money, they come after yours. Just over a week ago, the Treasurer delivered a budget that completely abandons everyday Australians at a time when they're facing the most acute financial pressure in a generation. These appropriation bills represent a written testament to the fiscal recklessness of this Labor government.

Every single week I hear from families, small business owners, farmers and manufacturers across my electorate of Dawson. They tell me the same thing: they are financially drowning. They're looking at the bills in absolute despair, trying to balance household budgets. They have been completely shattered by this Labor government, by the decisions that are made in this very building. When a family in Dawson sees their costs go up, they have to make immediate, painful choices. They cut back on meat at the butcher. They cancel the family camping weekend away. They turn the lights off early and go to bed just so they can afford to pay their electricity bill. They operate under the brutal laws of financial reality. If they do not have money, they do not spend it.

Yet, while the people of my electorate are making these gut-wrenching sacrifices, this out-of-touch Albanese Labor government refuses to display a single shred of restraint. This budget proves that Labor treats the hard-earned money of Australian taxpayers like a bottomless credit card. Labor is pumping billions of dollars of additional demand into an economy that is already running over the speed limit, fuelling the inflationary firestorm and ensuring that Australian families will suffer for years to come. This budget does not offer relief. It delivers a systematic, tax-heavy burden that snuffs out the great Australian dream of having a go and getting ahead. This is not a fair go for Australia. People are working harder for longer to go backwards.

What makes this appropriation bill so deeply offensive to the people of my electorate is that it comes at a time when the Albanese Labor government is enjoying historic, record-breaking revenue windfalls. Let us be entirely clear about where the money is coming from. It is not coming from the clever ideas of economists sitting in Canberra offices. It is being dragged out of the ground by the hardworking resources and agricultural sector in regional Queensland.

Debate interrupted.

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