Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that Australian households are worried about increasing pressures from the cost-of-living crisis brought about by recent interest rate rises and continued inflation;

(2) notes that:

(a) consecutive interest rate rises since May 2022 have placed mortgage stresses on many Australian households and more rises are expected;

(b) Australians are hurting, but in its budget, the Government failed to outline a plan to take pressure off interest rates; and

(c) Australians cannot wait another seven months for the Government's second budget to come up with a plan to deal with cost-of-living pressures that have become very real and painful for so many;

(3) recognises that despite telling Australians their power bills are going up by more than 50 per cent, their mortgage payments will continue to rise, the cost of groceries will remain high, and inflation will continue to surge, the Government still has no plan to tackle this cost-of-living crisis; and

(4) calls on the Government to focus on the issues that matter to Australians and to deliver a real and comprehensive plan to ease inflation and cost-of-living pressures.

The No. 1 issue that I hear when travelling around the electorate of Flynn is that people are struggling with the cost of living. This is why I've introduced today's motion as a matter of urgency. I've been inundated by emails and calls from retirees, families and working people who are hurting every time they go to the supermarket, every time they open their electricity bill, every time they get a letter from their banks announcing interest rate rises and every time they fill up at the fuel bowser.

I want to share some stories that I've been told. A Gracemere based resident said that some weeks she doesn't have enough food to feed herself. She has had to sell her family heirloom jewellery and her only sofa just to pay her rates. This is unsustainable. A Gladstone based resident said that she was unable to go to the doctor due to the increased cost of living and the high cost of appointments, with no bulk-billing services available. A Mount Morgan retiree said that she has decreased her trips to Rockhampton to get groceries because of the price of fuel. A small-business owner said that just one of his current electricity bills shows an 11 per cent increase in tariff and a 36 per cent increase in metering charges. He said in an email to me:

This current federal government had spruced election promises of lower electricity prices and that all these installed renewables provide cheaper supply; however, the real-world evidence does not support their claims. As you are in opposition it is your responsibility to hold the government to account at every opportunity. I would ask you pressure this new federal government and the state government on behalf of those small businesses and families who must financially pay for all of this as we are on an unsustainable track.

On 97 occasions, the Prime Minister promised Australians that their bills would go down by $275. Well, where is that reduction? The biggest missed opportunity is that the Labor budget does little to address the root cause of inflation. To help Australians facing rising prices, we need to tackle the source, not just the symptoms, of cost-of-living pressures. The budget fails to use fiscal policy to make any headway to reduce pressures on inflation—the source of the pressure. Instead, the budget raises a white flag on inflation. At the same time, the budget has forecast rising pressures on Australians. Meanwhile, since the budget was released, we have seen annual inflation hit 7.3 per cent, the highest level in more than three decades.

The Reserve Bank, ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, among others, have now forecast end-of-year inflation to be higher than what was contained in the budget. Stephen Koukoulas, former economist to Julia Gillard, has said the budget puts no downward pressure on inflation, leaving the RBA with all the work and 'carrying the can' in getting this inflation rate lower. They will undoubtedly raise interest rates further to counter the unhelpful government fiscal policy and other legislation.

Already, a family with a $750,000 mortgage is paying more than $1,200 extra every month on its repayments compared to May this year. The Prime Minister said Labor had a lasting plan for cheaper mortgages. With expectations from Goldman Sachs that the cash rate could rise five more times in the next six months, Australians are facing more and more increases on their mortgage repayments. Not only has the government broken their promise; they have absolutely no plan. This government is just making a bad situation worse.

In conclusion, this motion acknowledges that Australian households, including in my electorate of Flynn, are worried about the increasing pressures from the cost-of-living crisis brought about by recent interest rate rises and continued inflation. This government needs to focus on the issues that matter to Australians and deliver a real, comprehensive plan to ease inflation and cost-of-living pressures.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in response to the motion put forward by the member for Flynn. Counter to what he has suggested, the Albanese government well understands that Australian households are feeling the pressure with rising cost-of-living expenses. Some of the factors at play come from outside Australia, such as Russia's illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine and the effects that flow around the world from that. However, some of the pressures are actually home grown.

I'll be upfront. As the member for Flynn was only elected to the House in May this year, he might not have realised that the Liberal and National parties were actually in government for the last decade. In fact, the coalition has been on the Treasury benches for 21 of the last 27 years, so this nation's economic settings have their grubby fingers all over them. Perhaps the honourable member didn't notice this. I do note that, in his previous paid gig as the member for Callide, he managed to attend a four-hour estimates hearing and not ask a single question. Maybe attention to detail is not the member for Flynn's forte.

If the member for Flynn did some broader research, he might learn that the whole Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government shemozzle had 20 failed energy policies. That represents a wasted decade when it comes to a major cost input into households in Flynn and Moreton and businesses in Flynn and Moreton. This decade of inaction saw the member for Hume, while minister, deliberately hiding electricity price increases from the Australian people until after the election, and no apology has flowed from that. Again, being upfront, the member for Flynn doesn't actually believe in climate change—I noted that in his first speech. Despite what the local farmers tell him, he chooses to stick his head in the bulldust. So the member for Flynn probably celebrated each and every one of those 20 failed coalition energy plans.

The challenges Australia faces today weren't created by the Albanese government, but we do take responsibility for addressing them. Our economic plan is a direct and deliberate response to the challenges facing the economy, including cost-of-living pressures. Treasurer Chalmers delivered a budget focused on responsible cost-of-living measures that won't put extra pressure on rising inflation. Labor successfully argued for a FWC minimum wage increase in line with inflation, which will help some of the country's lowest paid workers pay their bills. We've extended paid pandemic leave, which was due to expire under the Liberals. This helps people still being impacted by COVID all over Australia.

We've introduced legislation that will drive investment in cleaner and cheaper energy, putting downward pressure on power prices. Sadly, the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government wasted a decade with inaction on renewables and on the cutting of emissions. And remember, Member for Flynn and everyone else in Australia: renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy. That inaction and flubbing from the coalition was cheered on by climate change deniers like the member for Flynn.

We're also making sure that enough gas stays in Australia for Australian households and businesses, while having an export industry out of Gladstone. With international gas prices soaring, we needed to ensure that sufficient gas stayed in Australia.

We've introduced legislation for cheaper child care—I see the minister present—that will help 1.26 million Australian families. Our cheaper childcare plan will boost productivity by allowing parents, mainly women, who want to work more hours or re-enter the workforce to do so. This also removes a major barrier for women and will greatly assist in meeting some of the skills and knowledge shortfalls being faced by every industry in Australia, as you will see if you go and walk down the main street of Biloela or any of the properties in Flynn.

Treasurer Chalmers' budget also cut the cost of medicines, not just for the city but for the bush. For the first time in its 75-year history, the maximum cost of general scripts under the PBS will fall. We've also listed and expanded important access to cancer medicines on the PBS.

We're fast-tracking fee-free TAFE places. Like cheaper child care, this will assist industry in finding, retaining and upskilling workers.

Pensions, allowances and rent assistance have increased in line with inflation. We're also bringing in a new pensioner work bonus so that older Australians can keep more of what they earn without it affecting their pension.

And the member for Flynn thinks we aren't doing anything to help cost of living? Maybe he has checked out, just like he did during that Queensland estimates session.

Lastly, and importantly for workers, Labor is getting wages moving again. Pay packets are just starting to pick up again. They're forecast to grow at the fastest pace in a decade, following a decade of wage stagnation. That was thanks to the deliberate design settings of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government. Imagine having a government that was designed to keep wages low!

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Moreton. I'm quite capable of checking the time, I'll remind the member for Longman. I call the member for Longman.

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the member for Flynn's private members motion on the cost of living. In my electorate of Longman, everyday Australians are suffering terrible cost-of-living pressures. Inflation is tipped to hit eight per cent, a 30-year high. This is in stark contrast from when the coalition were last in government. Under the coalition we enjoyed some of the lowest interest rates, highest household savings and lowest credit card debt in recent history. The now Prime Minister promised before the election, 'Australians will be better off under a Labor government I lead.' If higher interest rates, electricity and gas prices and fuel prices are all signs of Australians being better off, then the Prime Minister has kept the promise. This is not how we measure being better off, and in fact Australian families will be $2,000 worse off by Christmas. Merry Christmas, Australia.

It is with some bemusement and dismay that I see Labor are talking about abolishing the stage 3 tax cuts brought in by the coalition when in government. This tremendous policy achieves what we all desire—that is, ensuring workers' real wages increase by allowing them to keep more of what they earn. But this policy also ensures no additional financial burden is placed on businesses, many of whom are now doing it tough. As I've stated many times, we'd all love workers to earn as much as possible. But consideration must be given to the whole picture, and the fact is whenever wages rise, these wage increases are passed on to consumers, the very people that received the wage rise. So I put the question to you: if a worker's gross pay goes up by $40 a week—of which they lose, say, $10 in tax—but due to other workers getting the same increases, which are passed on, their weekly expenses go up by $50, is this a good thing? I would suggest not. That is why tax cuts are the best form of wage increase, because they give workers more of their net, take-home pay without increasing the price of goods, so they are simply better off.

Why would Labor even consider removing these tax cuts? Their lefty mates in Greens say this is tax relief for the rich or the high earners. That's not good enough. Let's look at the rich getting out a take-home pay increase in this measure, shall we? A hairdresser earning $60,000 a year will take home an extra $400 a year, a teacher earning $70,000 a year will take home an extra more than $620 every year, an executive assistant earning $80,000 a year will take home around an extra $900 every year and a diesel mechanic earning $100,000 a year will take an extra more than $1,370 per year. These are not the rich; these are the everyday Australians the coalition has always fought for and will continue to fight for. We will never bow to the Greens and their agenda, unlike the Labor Party.

Of course, not content to get rid of tax cuts for the average Aussie, to add extra pressure on Australians we have the energy affordability crisis. This is a twofold hit, as businesses like RGS in my electorate of Longman, who manufacture and distribute garden equipment like mowers and chainsaws and their associated parts, have been slugged with an additional $43,000 per annum electricity charge. This means that prices for these items at the check-out will increase to cover these higher costs, adding even more cost-of-living pressures. This is a straight-out election promise broken, as the Prime Minister promised 97 times before the election that his government would cut prices by $275—no exceptions, no statements of 'depending on this or that'; just an unconditional promise. Instead, their own budget stated that electricity prices would rise by 56 per cent over the next two years and gas 44 per cent—so much for a cut.

Mortgage pressures hurt both property owners and renters in our communities. Interest rates have skyrocketed since Labor achieved government, and a family with a mortgage of $500,000 is already paying $800 per month over what they were under the coalition. Again, this Prime Minister said that his government had a plan for cheaper mortgages. There were no conditions, no exceptions—just a promise which, again, has been broken. To try and alleviate the financial mess of this budget, Labor have reverted to their default position of increasing taxes, with $142 billion of extra taxes announced in the recent budget and, I'm sure, more to come. This of course will also add more cost-of-living pressures for everyday Australians.

Australians want and deserve a government that will keep its word and not continuously blame previous governments and outside factors. A strong leader takes responsibility for the cards they are dealt and gets on with the job. This government does none of this. Yes, they are truly living up to the Labor mantra: when Labor can't manage money, they come after yours. Prepare to buckle down, Australia. The worst from this lot is yet to come.

Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Flynn, like myself, is a member of the class of 2022 in this 47th Parliament. However, unlike me, the member has arrived in this place with some years of political experience, having previously served in the Queensland parliament from 2017. This begs a question that perhaps is a sign of my own naivety: why do those opposite insist on giving this government opportunity after opportunity to speak on the responsible work of our Treasurer and finance minister and illustrate what a mess we've inherited? For what reason the member for Flynn has decided to carry this candle, for his side, remains a mystery to me.

Only a few days ago, I had the honour of reminding members in the Federation Chamber of the virtues of the Albanese government's responsible economic management, thanks to a motion from the member for Menzies. Now the member for Flynn has obliged me. This government has been upfront and honest about the fiscal and monetary challenges we've inherited, and we are taking decisive and targeted action. Treasurer Chalmers' budget, delivered in October, begins the task of dealing with inflation, the deliberate low-wages policy of the former government and debt caused by years of lazy and wrongheaded government. I believe that if the member for Cook were still Prime Minister—busily sharing portfolios with some of those opposite—the same cost-of-living pressures would be present but there would not be the same will or capacity to act. This government is acting.

We are investing in cheaper early childhood education, giving a million families more options; making PBS medicines cheaper, to ease costs and keep people healthier; and getting wages moving again, empowering workers to earn more. As a stark point of difference, this government has prioritised paying down the trillion dollars of Liberal debt. Addressing the cost of living must involve keeping a lid on inflation. Despite the incessant shrieking and scaremongering from those opposite, Treasury modelling has confirmed that the Chalmers budget is the responsible way to move forward without exacerbating inflationary pressures. Those pressures are mostly coming from the global environment, as members well know. Government policy must be directed towards softening the blow, flattening the curve and preparing for recovery in the medium and longer term.

Addressing the cost of living means taking a hard look at energy policy and doing the right thing. The coalition is no stranger to developing energy policies. They tried to do quite a few but never landed a single one. The true path to long-term sustainable, lower energy prices is the rapid transformation to a green energy economy based on renewables, a dependable grid and forms of storage including batteries. Just today I read about the Norwegian company Equinor investing in offshore wind generation in Australia. Is there anyone in this chamber who seriously believes that we would be attracting the levels of investment and interest that we now see if the Minister for Climate Change and Energy wasn't active in this space, if he hadn't designated offshore zones and introduced legislation to support them, if we hadn't passed the climate change bills? I note that when the member for Flynn had a chance to support the climate change bills, a couple of months ago, he squibbed and voted against them. The member for Flynn is reported as having said that renewal energy is fantasy. He should take action against the newspapers if this is not true, as it seriously makes him look foolish.

Another important way to combat the cost of living is to ensure that wages haven't flatlined, especially where they haven't kept pace with either inflation or productivity. We have had nine years of coalition governments where low wages were a deliberate design feature of their policies. Now the Albanese government has supported wage rises for low-paid workers and has brought legislation into parliament to get wages moving again. I note that the member for Flynn voted against that legislation last week too.

Flynn did rather well, though, out of the first Chalmers budget handed down a month ago. The commitments made for Flynn by candidate Burnett and the Labor team are all there, funded in the budget. I count 21 across the electorate, from Gladstone to the Highlands, including a long-awaited pool at Boyne/Tannum and upgrades to the Bruce Highway. I'm the member for Hasluck, so I shouldn't have to stand here and tell the people of Flynn how good the Albanese government is to them, but I know that the member for Flynn isn't going to do it. He's just going to sit there polishing leather with his climate denier's hat on and, when confronted with a list of commitments as long as your arm and all funded in the budget, will say—and I quote from the Courier Mail on 27 October:

I wouldn't hold my breath with some of these commitments …

(Time expired)

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

SHARKIE () (): It's hard not to feel a sense of dread and despair with the direction of the Australian economy. The discussion du jour across every household is the worrying increase in the cost of living, and it's easy to see why. Inflation rose by 1.8 per cent in the September quarter to reach 7.3 per cent for the past year. This is the highest increase since 1990. I remember 1990 very well, and it is my deep fear that we are heading back there, where we will have double-digit interest rates.

The cost of non-discretionary items rose at an annual pace of 8.4 per cent in the September quarter, up from 7.6 per cent in the June quarter, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics dubs as a new high. These are essential items that consumers typically cannot avoid buying, such as fuel and food staples. The cost of discretionary items rose by 5.5 per cent. I just read that Stephen Koukoulas has said that retail spending is very, very low.

The impact is real. I've personally seen anecdotal evidence in my local supermarkets in Mayo. One really easy way to see that people are really struggling is that they're trying to buy exclusively home brand. If you look around at home brand in your stores, that section of the shelf is empty at the moment. Foodbank Australia, another community food distribution organisation, are servicing more people, many of whom have never reached out to these services before. Foodbank Australia CEO Brianna Casey commented on the Foodbank Hunger Report 2022. She said:

I have witnessed firsthand the rise in demand for food relief services over the past year as the country has been 'recovering' from Covid-19, but even I'm shocked by the picture that is exposed in this report.

Adding to the pain, Treasury estimates that wages will not outstrip inflation until 2024 at the earliest. However, by then, Australians will have experienced a 20 per cent rise in electricity bills this year and a further 30 per cent rise in the next financial year. That is a 50 per cent increase. Similarly, gas bills are also expected to rise by 20 per cent this year and a further 20 in the next financial year—40 per cent in total.

Ahead of the election, the Labor Party did spruik its credentials on its ability to lower power prices—and I'm assuming that that's from the time of the election and not where we're going to in a couple of years—by $275 per annum. I've been listening to the debate, and everyone is blaming each other, which is the usual thing that happens in this place, with nobody really coming up with any solutions. I ask the government to be truthful. When will Australians see that $275 or the equivalent on their power bills? And, if it can't deliver, I think it's time that the government was honest with the Australian people. In my electorate, I have constituents saying to me, 'Rebekha, when is my power bill going to get cheaper?' And I say, 'I just don't know.' I think I'm correct in hearing that the member for Moreton said that that $275 would be delivered by 2025. That's too far away. That's effectively another election away.

For many Australians, there really is no light to the end of the tunnel. It's quite the opposite. Under the poor guidance of the Reserve Bank of Australia, which touted for months that record-low interest rates would remain low until 2024, we've seen lots of people get mortgages right up to their borrowing capacity on sub-two-per-cent interest rates. That's going to be converted to a variable rate for many very soon of between five and seven per cent. The extent of this impending calamity is enormous. Forty-six per cent of home loans written in July and August last year were on a fixed rate. A total of $158 billion of fixed-rate mortgages will mature before the end of this financial year. It's going to mean a very bleak Christmas for a lot of people.

Inflation, cost-of-living increases, out-of-control energy prices and mortgage increases are seriously hurting Australians. I support this motion that calls on the government to focus on the issues that really matter and to deliver a real and comprehensive plan to address these issues. I listened to a speech by the member for Sturt in the Federation Chamber last week. He said that what we don't want to see are high wages creating this effect of spiralling inflation further and further into double digits. Let's focus on families. Let's focus on our communities. Let's focus on getting inflation down. We don't want to go back to 1990; it was a horrible time. It was the recession that we supposedly needed to have, but, let me tell you, it was a horrible time to be a young person in Australia. We can do better.

Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Despite what they say, the former Liberal government's pathetic record on economic management is absolutely clear. A trillion dollars of debt—that is your economic legacy. No matter how much they try to peddle the mistruth that they are superior economic managers, they cannot escape the simple fact that they left office with a trillion dollars of debt and nothing more than a negligible economic dividend to show for it. Instead, Australians lived through the worst decade for productivity in half a century and a decade of negative real wage growth.

I have spoken on several motions like this one during my brief time in this place: cut and paste Liberal spin that ignores the fact they were in government for almost a decade. The member for Flynn starts this one by rightly highlighting that many Australians are doing it tough, and the cost of living is rising fast. Interest rates and inflation are rising alongside, as they began to under the previous Liberal government, and household budgets are consequently stressed. As always, the member goes on to ignore the countless cost-of-living relief measures the Albanese Labor government is implementing. However, where this motion departs from all those that I've had the pleasure of speaking on previously is where it fails to mention the Liberals' decade of deliberate negative wage growth that has left so many Australians ill-equipped to handle the cost-of-living challenge.

In 2019, the former federal Liberal Finance Minister, Mathias Cormann, said that low wage growth was, 'A deliberate design feature of our economic architecture.' Australians should reflect on this. The Liberals deliberately kept your wages low while the profits of their corporate mates were soaring. Just earlier this year, the former Prime Minister and member for Cook described the prospect of a $1-an-hour increase to the minimum wage as 'reckless and dangerous'. This deliberate effort to stifle wages, while increasing the profits of their corporate mates, has left Australian families doing it very tough, and I'm not surprised that those opposite don't want to talk about it anymore.

Australians know that it was the former Liberal government that created the economic challenges we face today. However, Australians also know that only an Albanese Labor government can deliver the actual reform that will address those structural challenges. That's why they elected us and that's what we'll do. That's why our government has ended the previous government's policy of keeping wages low as a deliberate design feature of the economy they were running, and we are focused on getting wages moving again. Before the year is out, the Albanese Labor government will pass the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 to restore the balance at the bargaining table and deliver wage rises for Australian workers and their families. Sadly, this will pass without the support of those opposite. They don't want to talk about wage growth, and they certainly don't want to see it either.

Wage growth is just one part of Labor's plan to address the cost-of-living challenges faced by so many Australian families. Last month, in the first of many budget speeches, the Treasurer detailed Labor's economic plan to deliver a direct and deliberate response to the challenges facing our economy, including the cost of living. The Albanese Labor government is delivering cheaper child care to Australian families, including 7,000 families in my electorate of Hawke. These 7,000 households will be getting cheaper child care with the maximum childcare subsidy to rise to 90 per cent. Parents in Hawke will also have access to a full 26 weeks of paid parental leave as the Commonwealth scheme is expanded over the coming years. The cost of medicines will be slashed, as script costs plummet at the local pharmacy by $12.50 per script. And the rising cost of housing will be addressed through the new housing accord.

The Albanese Labor government is getting on with the job of fixing up the Liberal Party's mess, driving down the trillion dollars of debt they created and getting wages moving again. Alongside that, we will continue to provide much-needed relief to household budgets through our additional policy measures.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The No. 1 issue for all Australians right now is the ever-increasing cost-of-living pressures, and, unfortunately, they're increasing at a rapid rate. Everyone is affected and no-one is immune—the young couple who have just purchased their first home, the mum and dad who are working long hours to feed their three kids or the pensioner who is too scared to turn on the air conditioning. I want to thank the member for Flynn, Mr Colin Boyce, for raising this critical issue as a matter of priority. Well done.

The Labor government promised a lot during the election, but these promises seem to have disappeared into the wild blue yonder. Labor promised a plan to bring down the cost of living. Labor promised cheap electricity—they actually promised this 97 times. Labor promised a cheaper mortgage. Labor promised no changes to franking credits. But, six months on, all that Australians have from their government is a growing list of broken promises, causing fear and uncertainty in our communities.

On budget night, this Labor government walked away from a commitment to reduce every household's energy bill by $275—a promise repeated over 97 times. Instead, what this government has given us is a 56 per cent increase in power prices. It's getting harder and harder for families to make ends meet and to enjoy the simple things in life—and those things are fast becoming luxuries. Garnier shampoo is now being replaced with Homebrand. A piece of rump steak is now too expensive, and mincemeat is purchased instead. Tinned fruit and frozen veggies are replacing fresh produce.

The coalition had a plan to target this very issue, using the agricultural visa. Labour shortages across our ag sector are creating significant strain on farmers and pushing up the cost of fruit and veggies. The National Farmers Federation have estimated that we need an additional 172,000 workers for the sector. Since the Labor government has scrapped the ag visa—except for Vietnam, and that's only thanks to pressure from the coalition—Labor has a plan for only 42,000 workers, and that leaves our farmers short 75 per cent of what's required. Farmers have not got the certainty to plan and are having their produce fall to the ground. When there is no-one to harvest the produce, it goes nowhere, and the profit is zero. The inaction of the Albanese government is costing Australians at the check-out.

In my electorate of Dawson, kids are missing out on playing sport because they have to travel to neighbouring towns to compete. This is purely due to the cost of fuel. This is another choice that's been forced on families: sports, or food on the table. A pensioner who can't afford the expense of running their air conditioner will be forced to suffer in the stifling heat and humidity that my region experiences every summer. Constituents who need to travel for regular medical appointments with specialists—from smaller towns like Bowen to main centres like Townsville, a 400 kilometre round trip—are struggling with the extra fuel costs. Do they make those trips, or do they neglect their health? People want to know when this government is going to get their act together and address the cost-of-living crisis.

My people in Dawson deserve a government that does more than just congratulate themselves at every opportunity. They're crying out for real solutions that will ease the growing cost pressures, bring electricity prices down and keep food on the table. Prime Minister, our country needs you to take responsibility. You're not in opposition; you're at the helm.

Since the budget was announced, we've seen inflation hit 7.3 per cent—the highest level in more than three decades. Homeowners with mortgages are feeling overwhelmed by their extraordinary payments.

Already, a family with a $750,000 mortgage is paying $1,200 more each month compared to what they were prior to the election. I am urging the Labor government to get the priorities of this nation right. We are staring down the barrel of a very bleak and very dark future. For the sake of the good people of Dawson and all Australians, it's time to put the cost-of-living crisis as priority number 1. And, for the record, Australia is not in $1 trillion of debt. That is just another Labor lie. Those figures are available to everybody—have a look.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the cost-of-living motion. I'll start by saying there is no doubt that times are really tough out there. Households, businesses—small businesses in particular—and households on fixed incomes are really struggling. That is something that the government can bury their head in the sand over if they choose to, but the reality is those of us that are genuinely listening to our communities and hearing about those challenges and struggles on a daily basis are very despondent that we have a government that is doing nothing about this crisis.

As other speakers have pointed out—and I commend the member for Mayo's contribution regarding electricity, because this is really important—it is time for the government to be honest with people about a promise they made during the May election to reduce electricity prices and what the reality of that situation is going to be. I think the government attempt to put a lot of smoke and mirrors around this solemn promise that they made, but the timeline is really important and it is really straightforward. The then Labor opposition announced their climate change energy policy in December 2021. Within that were certain measures. This poor company called RepuTex, which will probably never recover from their association with this Labor policy costing exercise, costed that policy and said clearly in the document that if the Labor Party were elected and implemented all of their electricity policies that by 2025, as against December 2021, electricity prices would fall for the average residential consumer by 18 per cent, or $275. That's by 2025. Labor have confirmed in their recent budget that in the financial year ending 2023 and the financial year ending 2024, electricity prices are going to go up cumulatively by 56 per cent. To achieve that 18 per cent, there needs to be 74 per cent off come June 2024. It will be a spectacular effort if they can keep that promise to achieve a 74 per cent reduction between June 2024 and June 2025, but I highly doubt that is going to occur.

It's time to come clean and be honest to people that you made a promise to them and you're not going to keep it. Yes, of course, issues have come to bear since then, like the war in Ukraine. That was in February, and subsequent to February, the then Labor opposition continued to make this spurious promise that they would reduce electricity prices by 18 per cent or $275 to the average residential consumer by 2025. They have then handed down a budget and said that by the 30 June 2024 prices will go up by 56 per cent—a 74 per cent deficit to make up in 12 months. This is simply not going to happen, and the households and businesses of this country deserve to be told the truth by the government, which is that they told you they were going to cut your bills by 18 per cent and that's no longer going to happen.

There are some people out there that still have faith in commitments that are made in election campaigns and believe that there's no reason a government, if they said they were going to do something, would not deliver on it. As the member for Mayo points out, there are people struggling with their electricity bills that may still be thinking there is a dramatic reduction in their bill on the way because the Labor Party said in opposition said 'If we are in government we will cut your bills by 18 per cent, or $275.' Clearly people are still hoping that that's going to happen. If it's not, they deserve some honesty from this government. The government should come clean and say: 'What we said we would do is not going to happen. We told you we'd cut your electricity bills, but that's not the case.'

Far from it, prices are increasing dramatically. It could be that the 56 per cent by 2024 is only going to increase more and more in the future. When we get to 2025, when we thought we'd have had an extra $275 in our pocket through a reduction in our electricity bill, it's going to be dramatically different. People make serious decisions about their budgets based on these things. It is high time we had some honesty. The government should come clean and admit that that commitment is never going to happen. It should be honest with the people of this country.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for the debate has expired.