House debates

Thursday, 24 November 2022

Statements by Members

Albanese Government

1:33 pm

Photo of Andrew HastieAndrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | | Hansard source

It's a simple question but one the Prime Minister could not answer. When Labor's policies are driving up the cost of living for families, why has it signed up to a $2 trillion loss-and-damage climate fund that will send money overseas and beyond our region? Australian families want an answer to the question posed by the opposition leader on Monday. Prime Minister, why are you giving away their money instead of helping with the rise of cost of living? The refusal to answer, the theatre and outrage tells you everything you need to know about Labor's priorities.

At time when your grocery prices, interest rates and power bills are rapidly increasing, at a time when people in Canning need an urgent fix for our struggling hospital, at a time when the government has slammed the brakes on the Pinjarra heavy haulage bypass, putting lives at risk, the Prime Minister's focus is on how much we can pay foreign governments, possibly big carbon emitters like China, compensation for our own carbon emissions. This is after Labor has admitted its energy policy will cause electricity prices to go up 56 per cent and gas to go up 44 per cent over the next two years. As the Albanese Labor government refuses to back future tax cuts locked into the budget by the former coalition government, this would be real money in the bank for families in Canning and across the nation. Everywhere you look, the Prime Minister refuses to put you first. You and your family are way down on the list. My mission is to make sure you're always first. We need a government that always puts Australian families, and our jobs in this country, first.