Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Under this Labor government, business confidence is falling and consumer confidence is at near historic lows, not seen since the 1990s Keating recession. With mortgage costs going up and up, inflation at 30-year highs, energy bills rising again on 1 July and families increasingly unable to afford the basics, why did the Prime Minister break his promise of cheaper mortgages and a $275 cut to household power bills? Prime Minister, why do Australian families always pay more under Labor?

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

I'm asked about business confidence. I tell you what, there's a bit of legislation before the Senate that's precisely about business confidence. The safeguard mechanism is the most important thing that we could do to give certainty to our major companies in Australia. The Leader of the Opposition went along to the AFR business summit. He was asked about the strong business support for the government's safeguard mechanism, and he said this: 'Certainly from some sectors there's a very different story, and that's been the private conversations that we have had with some of those CEOs and some of the boards.'

I ask the Leader of the Opposition, who are these boards? Who are these CEOs who say they're against the safeguard mechanism? My friend Phil Coorey had an observation about that. He said:

After Opposition Leader Peter Dutton reaffirmed the Coalition would vote against the legislation, and claimed some companies were urging him privately to block it, business leaders urged a rethink.

Business Council of Australia president Tim Reed told The Australian Financial Review Business Summit "we are disappointed" with the opposition's position.

He said the safeguard mechanism was the "best available option" for decarbonisation, and he questioned Mr Dutton's claim about businesses saying one thing in public and another in private.

He went on to say this: 'I haven't had any come out and say they got this wrong.' Mr Reid said: 'Of the 44 BCA members who will be affected by the mechanism, there are 44 in favour, zero against the safeguard mechanism.'

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

The member for Hume is warned.

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

The Leader of the Opposition was caught out trying to verbal the business community to the business community. They were sitting there at the conference, and he's telling them, 'No, you don't know what you think. I know better what you think.' It's just extraordinary—no ideas, no alternatives, no credibility.