Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion immediately—That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) before the election, the Prime Minister promised on at least 97 occasions that Australians would receive a $275 cut in their power bills; and

(b) since the election, the Prime Minister has abandoned this promise and refused on 27 occasions to stand by this promise when asked about it in this House; and

(2) therefore condemns the Prime Minister for cynically and deliberately misleading the Australian people.

As late as question time today, the Leader of the House, the Treasurer—the whole front bench—has refused to back in this weak Prime Minister. This Prime Minister went to an election on integrity, saying to the Australian people he would look them in the eye and that he could be relied upon. As it turned out, he completely deceived the Australian public. And it was not just on one occasion; this wasn't just a slip of the tongue. This wasn't a Prime Minister who was in full flight during the course of a press conference and misspoke or moved off his speaking points, as we saw this Prime Minister regularly do in the election campaign. He made that promise on 97 occasions.

Now, do you think that Australians were listening to what the Prime Minister said? I'll bet they were, because what he said was based on the research that the Labor Party had done during and up to the election in May. The Australian public wanted to hear from this Prime Minister, the then Leader of the Opposition, that they would get a cut to their electricity prices and to their gas prices if Labor was elected. So what did the machine men of the Labor Party do? They came up, Mr Speaker—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And they are machine men. They're over there in the advisers' box giving the Prime Minister some desperate notes right now. Mr Speaker, let me say—

Government members interjecting—

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order!

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They promised $275—

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

Order! The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. Members on my right, I'll hear—

Government members interjecting—

Order! When the House comes to order I'll hear from the Leader of the House.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, there are two rules that have normally been observed by both sides. There are two groups that we don't target in debate: we don't target people's families and we don't target people's staff.

Government members interjecting—

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

Order! Members on my right, I'll be heard in silence. Can I ask the Leader of the Opposition to rephrase that part of his response.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, there were faceless men in the Labor Party who, on research, came up with the line that they believed the Australian public wanted to hear, and this Prime Minister looked the Australian public in the eye on 97 occasions and told them that they would get a $275 cut to their power bills—97 times! Do you know what's happened since the election, Mr Speaker? We have given every opportunity to the Prime Minister to repeat that claim, to say to the Australian public: 'You didn't mishear me during the election campaign. You aren't going crazy. You actually heard—yes, you did—on 97 occasions that Labor, in government, would reduce power prices by $275.'

The Prime Minister, on 27 occasions now since the election, has been given the opportunity in this parliament to apologise to the Australian people, to say that he made a mistake, to suggest to the Australian people that somehow they misunderstood. That hasn't happened, because that decency that the Prime Minister could express, the apology that he should give to the Australian people, completely escapes him.

At a time when families are seeing an increase in their power prices because of Labor Party policies, at a time when Australians are seeing an increase in their gas prices because of Labor Party policies, they are feeling deceived by this Prime Minister. They wanted to believe in him, they wanted to believe that he was sincere, they wanted to understand that he would deliver on a promise that he made solemnly to them on 97 occasions, and there's no chance of it—no chance of it at all.

I'll tell you what's happened since the election. The Labor Party delivered a budget only a month ago. In that budget the Australian public expected that after five months in government the government would have come up with a plan to deliver on their election promises. That's what they expected in the budget—not unreasonably, either, I might say. What happened in the budget was that Labor said to the Australian public: no $275 cut. There was no mention of $275 anywhere in the papers associated with the budget. So not only can they not say it in this place; they can't say it in their budget papers.

What did the budget papers tell us, Mr Speaker? They were very clear. The budget papers delivered in October said two things, amongst many. Firstly, they said that after two years of Labor Party policy the price of electricity would go up by 56 per cent. There was no mention of that before the election. Secondly, they said that gas prices after two years of Labor policy would go up by 44 per cent. Now, I know that Labor isn't too good when it comes to management of the economy or numbers, but surely it doesn't escape even the Australian Labor Party that a promise of $275 is the complete opposite of delivering a 56 per cent increase.

I'll tell you who does get it, Mr Speaker: Australian families. At the moment, they are facing eight per cent inflation under this Labor government. They are facing increased interest rates. Australian families are coming off fixed interest rates of 1.8 per cent and going up to 4½, and interest rates are going north. They are facing huge increases in every line item in the household budget. We're now getting Australian manufacturers who are talking about moving offshore because they're worried about the instability in the system. They're worried about massive increases well beyond the 56 per cent and well beyond the 44 per cent.

To compound the Prime Minister's deception of the Australian people, they have now concocted this argument that somehow the war in Ukraine—the illegal invasion by Russia into Ukraine in February this year—is the excuse for not delivering the $275. Let's be very clear about this, because this deception was repeated in question time again today. I wish I had more time. I wish the government would allow us to have the debate, but let me say this—on 24 February Russia invaded Ukraine. Since that date, the Prime Minister has personally promised on 28 occasions to cut power bills by $275. Today, the Prime Minister is saying we can't deliver on the $275 because of Russia going into Ukraine. Yet since Russia has gone into Ukraine the Prime Minister has repeated that promise to deliver the $275 price cut on 28 occasions.

The Australian people aren't stupid. They are not stupid. They can see a fake and a phony a mile away. I'll you what—they saw in Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. They are seeing this government make critical economic mistakes right now, including significant changes to the industrial relations system which will come as a wet blanket across the Australian economy at exactly the wrong time. The Australian public and small businesses get it. They know that at the last election they were deceived by this Prime Minister. They thought he was a man whose word he would honour and whose word they could trust, and he has demonstrated to them time after time, before and since the election, that he does not live up to his word. There are 28 occasions—and I am very happy to table that and to go through each and every one of the quotes: on 3AW, on AFR, on ABC in Townsville, at a doorstop by the Prime Minister in Tasmania, on Today Extra, on ABC News Breakfast and on Channel 7 news. This Prime Minister says one thing to the Australian public before an election, and then does the complete opposite after. So, don't believe a word this Prime Minister has to say when it comes to electricity prices.

Under this government, with the policies that they are delivering, with what they have promised in their budget, your power prices are going up. Your electricity prices are going up. Your gas prices are going up. I say to the Australian public: don't trust this Prime Minister.

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

Is the motion seconded?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to second the motion. You see, this is a prime minister who didn't know the interest rate but thought he could promise you cheaper mortgages. This is a prime minister who said the number 275 ninety-seven times before the election, but hasn't said it since. This is a prime minister who's not very good with numbers even though he likes to quote his economics degree and all the genuine intel he has about how the economy works. He couldn't name the interest rate but he promised you cheaper mortgages.

We're here in the Liberal and National Parties fighting for the people across Australia who are waiting for their mortgages to get cheaper, who are for their power price to go down and who are struggling to pay their power bills. We're here for the small manufacturers. We're here for the farmers. We're here for the small businesses that you come into this place and laugh at every single question time. We know that they're hurting and we know that they expected better from you, Prime Minister. They expected better from your front bench, who sits here and jeers and sneers and laughs and puts down the ordinary Australians who are counting on you, who listen to the promises you made. You can't say one thing six months ago, come into parliament and roll out an agenda that is full of excuses, because people want solutions. They don't want excuses. The people who are contacting us every day want answers to their problems. They don't want an industry minister who can't talk to the resources minister. They don't want a treasurer who wrings his hands and says, 'It's all awful because of what happened in Russia.' They don't want a prime minister who comes to this dispatch box and laughs, sneers and jeers at the genuine problems they're facing.

Let me just remind people who might be listening that Australians were promised a plan for cheaper mortgages. They were promised a plan for cheaper electricity. They were promised a plan for wages, and even the government's own budget papers demonstrate that real wages will not go up in this term. Where do this government's priorities lie? Only in ramming through their radical and extreme industrial relations agenda and the hurt that will cause small business. The Minister for Small Business could not name a single small business, and neither, with respect, Prime Minister, could you name a single small business that supports this radical industrial relations agenda. You and your team, Prime Minister, have prioritised the unions—

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

The deputy leader will resume her seat for a moment. I'm just going to remind her that every time she says 'you' she's reflecting on me, so please direct your remarks through me. The House will come to order so the deputy leader can be heard in silence.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The priorities of this government are the union movement and payback to their bosses. I think it's $100 million, Prime Minister, over 15 years in donations that have gone to the Australian Labor Party. I guess that counts for something. I guess that means payback needs to happen and I guess that's why your radical and extreme industrial relations agenda has taken priority over the needs of ordinary families, of small businesses, of Australians who are hurting, who know that their energy costs are getting higher and higher.

Your own energy minister is reminding us how much energy is going up, how much more expensive it's going to be for households, how much the gas prices are going up. But never, never do we see a plan, so it's vital, Mr Speaker, that standing orders are suspended so that we can properly hold this government to account for the promises it has made and the promises it has broken. I want to remind people what those promises were: you would see real wage cuts, you would see cheaper mortgages, your wages would go up. By the way, you don't get wages moving by putting the brakes on business, and that seems to be your only policy at the moment. Meanwhile, for people and householders their energy bills are going up, their repayments are going up, their pay is going backwards because this government lacks a cost-of-living plan.

A cost-of-living plan would give ordinary families and households and businesses some hope, some reassurance, some comfort going into the Christmas period that, as they come out the other side, things are actually going to get better. We are indeed facing challenging global economic times, and we'd like to understand that this government has a plan and that this government has their back. But clearly that is not the message you are giving. Suspension of standing orders is vital. I must repeat, Prime Minister, it is vital that you explain to this House, this parliament and the Australian people: what is your plan for a cheaper cost of living for every Australian?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is the weakest attempted suspension of standing orders from the weakest leadership team that we have seen in this chamber for many a decade. At least the Leader of the Opposition has come out of hiding. He's actually had something to say in this chamber. The last media conference the Leader of the Opposition held was on 3 November. He's taken a vow of silence. From 3 November to 1 December he has not held a press conference—not one! But to be fair, this week he's done two media interviews. They've been tough! First was the weekly interview with Ray Hadley—he holds him to account every Thursday! And last night there was that tough interrogation from Paul Murray! This is what Paul Murray asked last night:

… you've got a potential in the next two and a half years to build policies around one word—'freedom'. Is that going to be the funnel that you try to work out what you take to the electorate in the next two and a half years?

The response:

Absolutely, it will be … It is exactly about that freedom.

Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Talk about electricity prices talk about electricity and about your promises.

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

The member for Deakin is warned.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm not sure if he's channelling Mel Gibson in Braveheart or George Michael! It's hard to tell, because last week he did two interviews as well and he had two questions in the whole week. And guess how many matters of public importance the Leader of the Opposition has done in this parliament. I'll give you a clue: it's a really round number—not one! Not once has this Leader of the Opposition had the confidence to come to this dispatch box after question time and say, 'Today I know what the most important matter is'—not once.

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

The member for Groom will cease interjecting.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He's taken a vow of silence. He's less a Leader of the Opposition and more a Trappist monk!. He's taken a vow of silence, and it's little wonder because he cannot defend his record.

Then, of course, we had the deputy leader, who stood here and spoke about interest rates. Well, I tell you what, there was low interest in her speech by the end of that. Not even her own side were listening.

I'll tell you what we've done in our first six months of office.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You've misled the Australian public. That's what you've done.

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

The Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We said we would make child care cheaper, and we have. We said we'd get our lowest paid workers a pay rise, and we have. We said we'd give aged-care workers a pay rise, and we have. We said we'd make medicines cheaper, and we have. We said we'd have 180,000 fee-free TAFE places, and we have. We said we'd pass the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and we have. We said we'd have 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave, and we have. We said we'd establish a robodebt royal commission, and we have. We said we'd embraceRespect@Work and put women at the centre of our budget, and we have. We said, after a decade of denial, that we would legislate for net zero and 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030, and we have. We said we'd restore Australia's international reputation, and we have. We're out there restoring relationships with our Pacific neighbours.

How does that contrast with what happened in the Solomons under this opposition's watch, under the former government? Can you imagine, if they are successful sometime in the future, the Leader of the Opposition rocking up to the Pacific Islands Forum and saying, 'Sorry I made jokes about your entire lands drowning. Sorry I thought that was funny. Sorry about that'—let alone, of course, their relationship with France, their relationship with the United States or their relationship with ASEAN.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And then they talk about the relationship with China, our major trading partner, which imports more goods from Australia than the United States, Japan and Korea combined. And, yes, I had a meeting with president Xi with no concessions—not one—and no preconditions because I believe that you can have an economic relationship with our major trading partner to defend jobs and our national economy. I make no apologies for that.

We said we would put an end to a decade of delay, inaction and disrespect, a decade of cover-ups and secrecy, a decade of wages kept deliberately low, a decade of denying climate change, a decade of goading manufacturers to leave our shores and a decade of neglecting TAFE and training in aged care and health, and that is precisely what we have done.

I am so proud of my team and what we have done in our first six months, delivering on promise after promise after promise—a contrast to their record. In their last six months, what did they do? They said they'd have a religious discrimination bill, and then they pulled their own bill. Wages were going backwards. They didn't order enough rapid antigen tests. They spent money from their Disaster Relief Fund. Nope, didn't bother to get around to that. We have been looking after communities that have been suffering from the emergencies that have continued. They hid an energy policy, they hid an environmental report, they hid information, but, most importantly, they hid who their ministers were. They had a shadow government. And, yesterday, they defended a bloke who actually stood here and said, 'I would have told you who the ministers were and that I'd been sworn into six portfolios, but no-one asked.' And they queued up to kiss the ring after the speech--they queued up! It was just an extraordinary performance of sycophancy from a political party that failed to stand up—failed to stand up for parliamentary functioning and for our democracy.

While I went to the election saying that I would bring people together, those opposite are just interested in dividing people. State premiers—ask Premier Perrottet who he prefers to deal with, the federal Labor government now or the former Morrison government. Go and ask him! He'll tell you. Go and ask the Tasmanian Premier, Premier Rockliff, who he's happy to deal with. We delivered the Marinus plan. You talked about it for six years; we've delivered in six months. We have a plan for the future. They've left 10 years of mess. We won't waste a day. They wasted a decade. We believe no-one should be left behind. Those opposite had a conscious economic plan to leave people behind by driving wages low. We want a future made here in Australia.

Yesterday, we advanced the National Reconstruction Fund to do just that. Contrast that with those opposite, when a former Treasurer stood at this despatch box and dared the car industry to leave, with real consequences for manufacturing and our capacity to have a complex economy. We believe that clean, cheap energy will drive our economy in the future. We believe that clean, cheaper energy can drive advanced manufacturing here in Australia. We believe in opportunities for those jobs through increased funding for TAFE and through increased funding for universities. But we also believe in helping our youngest Australians through our childcare package and our oldest Australians through our aged-care plans.

We have a plan for this country. Those opposite just have a sulk about how dare the Australian people, in a polling booth, on 21 May, take away what they regard as their born-to-rule mentality. I'll tell you this: they need to have a bit of a reset over the summer months and come back, be constructive, and have some plans rather than the absurd, weak opposition that we see before us today.

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

The question is the motion be disagreed to.