Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) under the Government we have now seen interest rates rising for nine straight months; and

(b) we have not seen consistent rate hikes like this in more than 30 years;

(2) acknowledges that:

(a) the latest increase means that a family with a typical mortgage of $750,000 now needs to find an extra $20,000 a year to keep up with mortgage repayments; and

(b) at the same time energy bills have soared and grocery costs are rising; and

(3) calls on the Government to take real action to address cost of living pressures.

Listening to this government, you would think that Australians were living an easy life. Indeed, just last week we heard the Prime Minister boast that Australians have had a pretty good 10 months under his leadership. Well, I'm not quite so sure where the Prime Minister has been. To be fair, I do know he has been away a lot. He has been to Japan and Indonesia; to the United Arab Emirates, Spain, France, Ukraine, Fiji and the United Kingdom; back to Japan; to Cambodia; back to Indonesia; to Thailand; to Papua New Guinea; to India, the United States and back to Fiji again.

I, of course, don't hold this against him. As someone who spent the last decade working in global trade, I know how important it is for the Prime Minister to meet his counterparts, to reassure them of Australia's respected partnership, and to boost our trade and investment opportunities enshrined in deals sealed by the previous coalition government. I especially recognise the Prime Minister's travels in the Indo-Pacific to protect and defend our strategic interests, and I particularly commend him for his travelling further, around the coalition's AUKUS policy.

But I do wonder if that means he has lost touch somewhat with Australian families—particularly in my electorate, which he did actually visit in January, to my enormous delight, but only for lunch with mates at the beach at Portsea, before he choppered back over the ditch to Geelong. If he had stopped to talk to my constituents in Flinders, he may have heard a quite different story.

In January, he would have heard of their enormous struggles to get staff in our most critical industries: in tourism, hospitality, agriculture and health. He would have heard about soaring wages just to get people to turn up for shifts. He would have heard about businesses having to close their doors for parts of the busiest season of the year simply because they couldn't get the cleaners or the cooks or the chefs or the waiters that they needed.

By February, he would have heard about the impact of interest rate rises when the cash rate rose for the ninth time from 3.1 to 3.35. This year alone, 61 per cent of Victorian mortgages will convert from fixed rate mortgages to variable rate mortgages. Those who were lucky enough to fix their mortgages during the COVID-19 pandemic may have done so at a two per cent rate, or something around a two per cent rate—possibly, even below two per cent. When they come off fixed rates later this year, their variable rate will be in the order of 6.5 per cent a year—and that's assuming no further increases. So that will be, overnight, a tripling of their interest rate and a vast increase in what they have been paying. Those who are already confronting the impact of careering cash rate increases in their home mortgages are paying roughly $1,700 or $1,800 more each month, each and every month. That's 1,800 extra dollars, after tax, every month, and, if you do the maths, that's more than $20,000 a year.

What could a family do with $20,000 a year? They could buy a car. They could pay for school tuition in a local community school, or maybe take a family of five away somewhere nice—Hawaii, maybe—for Christmas. They could replace a kitchen that needed replacing. They could put money away for a kid's tertiary study or help them to get together money for a deposit for a home, maybe. They could pay out-of-pocket medical costs for an expensive, but unexpected, procedure. You could get married, but it would have to be a cheap wedding. You could just buy a ring for the girl you love. Twenty thousand dollars a year just in repayments over and above whatever you were paying before will come as a big shock and a big change to most families. Keep in mind, that's for someone who has a $750,000 mortgage.

It's been 'a good 10 months', the Prime Minister reckons. Inflation is at almost eight per cent, grocery bills are up by 20 per cent in some cases, there are job losses across the industrial spectrum and power prices are rising at a hallucinogenic speed—is it 60, is it 40 or is it 31? Whatever happened to that emergency legislation we were forced to pass last December to constrain price rises? It doesn't seem to have worked. Why? It's because this government has crushed investment and confidence in our energy market. Remember the promise that you would get a $275 a year reduction on your electricity bills year on year? Where has that promise gone in the last 'pretty good 10 months' that the Prime Minister talks about? What about his promise of cheaper mortgages, no changes to super, lower inflation and a promise not to touch franking credits, not to touch industry-wide bargaining, not to raise taxes and not to touch superannuation?

This government is not doing enough to alleviate the pressure on families, and it is doing too much— (Time expired)

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by acknowledging that I know that Australians are doing it really tough at the moment. This is a really tough economic chapter in Australia's history, and I know that households are having to make tough decisions around the kitchen table, and this is something that the Albanese Labor government needs to replicate at the cabinet table. I'll also highlight that the Albanese Labor government hasn't inherited a great set of books or economic and government positioning. The coalition racked up a trillion dollars of debt with very little to show for it. The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison governments didn't really know what to do when they finally held government. Prime Minister Abbott ended up being more effective as an opposition leader rather than a prime minister, so he forgot the need to lead the country and, of course, was challenged. Then we had Turnbull, who had some leadership skills but forgot to ensure that caucus was aligned. Finally, we had Morrison, and we all know that Prime Minister Scott Morrison was more interested in power than in actually doing anything. It was quite telling when journalist Deborah Snow discovered that Prime Minister Morrison had never thought about his legacy.

The role of governments is to build foundations to improve the lives of all Australians, and this should be done both today and in the future. With the coalition asleep at the wheel of the metaphorical national car, the Albanese Labor government is trying to methodically, carefully and intentionally steer the nation back on track. The Albanese Labor government has a three-point plan on addressing cost-of-living and inflation challenges in the budget. It's about relief, repair and restraint. Responsible cost-of-living relief includes cheaper medicines, direct energy relief and cheaper child care. I realise that the coalition may not have got the memo that women are employed in the paid workforce and aren't stuck at home doing the ironing, and also that modern men are doing their own ironing. The government's plan is also about repairing supply-side constraints. We've introduced fee-free places in areas of skill demand, and this will help reduce skills shortages. We've also introduced the National Reconstruction Fund because we learned, during the pandemic, how fragile our supply chains are; that, as an island nation, we need to be more resilient as a nation; and that we need to increase our sovereign capability.

Then, of course, there's cleaner and cheaper energy. I know that the coalition likes to magic up that energy challenges are based on the nine months since Labor took over and we should forget the nine years that they were at the wheel. And you would want to forget. It's hard to remember all 22 of their energy policies. The weaponisation of climate policy has been to the detriment of capital investment in decarbonising our grid. The lack of investment in renewables has had a direct impact on energy prices. Let's think about the inputs to create electricity. We have gas and coal which are commodities which are sold on international markets, and are therefore subject to international commodity prices and exchange rates. With the war in Ukraine and challenges from the pandemic, supply shocks have seen commodity prices skyrocket. Then you have energy sources such as wind and solar. And guess what? When the wind blows and the sun shines, they don't care if there's a war in Ukraine, and there aren't restraints due to fossil fuel companies selling too much of our commodities overseas and putting at risk Australia's energy security.

The thing is we have a great Australian example—on RenewEconomy, as Michael Mazengarb explained in June last year: 'Electricity users in the Australian Capital Territory will see average electricity costs fall by at least 1.25 per cent come 1 July, as the Capital Territory's extensive contracts for 100 per cent renewable electricity shield its customers from the chaos rippling through Australia's energy markets.' Imagine if the coalition had actually read the writing on the wall and invested in our clean energy future. We might have had the ability to hedge against the challenges that we've seen in the electricity market—and perhaps they wouldn't have lost so many seats to the crossbench.

Finally, part of our approach is around a responsible budget with spending restraint, returning almost all of our revenue upgrades to the bottom line and keeping spending essentially flat over the next four years to not add to inflation. The Pre-Election Economic Fiscal Outlook revised total revenue by $63.2 billion. Much of this comes off the back.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Flinders for raising this important topic today about the increasing costs under the Labor government—not just the Queensland Labor government but the federal Labor government. What you hear from those opposite is all blame: 'It's not us, even though we're in power and we've been in power for 10 months, almost a year.' It's everyone else's fault but theirs. The reality is that interest rates are rising, grocery prices are rising, electricity bills and water bills are rising, and people are really being impacted.

Before the last federal election, the member for Lilley put up a Facebook or Instagram post about inflation being five per cent. Guess what? It's now at eight per cent. Why don't you go and post that, Member for Lilley—as well as every other member on that side of the House who won their seat at the last election.

The reality is that this government doesn't have a clue about how to address the cost of living, and the Treasurer should listen to what local people are saying in my seat—people in Deception Bay, like Jason Pratt, who said his grocery bills are now up 40 per cent. This means those who have budgeted $250 and $400 now have to find an extra $100 to $160 a week. Kay Walding, a pensioner in Brackenridge is now finding that she has to keep dropping more and more off her basic grocery bill—every week, another item let go—and her water bill is also increasing significantly.

It is no surprise, because the stats are showing that utilities have gone up eight to 10 per cent in the last 10 months, since the Albanese Labor government came to power. Gas prices have increased by as much as 70 per cent. Grocery prices right around the country have gone up 10 per cent, with fruit and vegetables hiked up by 9½ per cent, bread and cereal up by 12 per cent, meat and seafood up by over eight per cent as well, and dairy related products up by 15 per cent. And what did Labor do when they came to office? They increased the tax on petrol and diesel, making that even harder for people as well.

Barbara Johnstone in Burpengary East reached out to me, angry that her son saved for years to buy a house and is now, quite frankly, priced out of the market. After saving for years, he found he was already unable to afford a standalone house, but now he is completely priced out because interest rates have gone up 90 per cent. The increase was 10 per cent under the previous government. It's 90 per cent under this government. Labor candidates were running around the country putting up social media posts saying it's now $400 extra a month. Guess what? The average mortgage now has doubled: it's $2,100 a month. Go and post that, Labor members. But they won't, because they have no idea what the local people are doing and they've got no answer to how they're going to address it.

Brooke Dutton from Deception Bay said, 'It's at the point most people can't afford food. Do you think less than $50 a fortnight is okay for a family of four for food?' They were spending $200 a fortnight but, with all the extra costs, can now only spend $50 a fortnight. Lisa Turner said, 'Definitely doubled in the past few months'—not the past 10 months; the past few months. Brittney from Griffin said, 'We are roughly paying $450 per week for two adults and two children—used to be $300 to $350.' Rachel Cook said, 'Massive change—it's crazy.' Alliana Zadie-Jane said: 'People can't afford staples and that takes a toll on their health. They are now lining up at hospital for diet related illnesses.' Chelsea Robke said: 'A big change. We used to pay around $120 for a big shop and now it's closer to $200.' Caitlyn Griffiths said, 'A family of 10 used to pay $400, and we're now looking at $600 a week under Labor.'

Cosette Heazlewood said: 'We used to spend $180 to $220. Now we scrape in at $280—choosing cheaper meals and not splurging on any treats.' Kalinda Johnston said: 'Used to be $200 max and now we're seeing $350 regularly. It's scary. Cost of living just keeps going up and up.' Kara Morgan from Griffin used to spend $450 a month and is now paying $300 a week. Single mum Renee Jardine, who is parenting a child with special needs, is spending an extra $40 to $50 a week, which means she is no longer able to eat fish or red meat. Marion Carey from Deception Bay said: 'Everything has gone up from $1 to $3. Put on top of a family trolley are the bills, interest rates and utilities. Families are struggling.' For Amanda Shaw and her two kids, as well as her two pets, it has gone up to $300 to $350 week without meat.

Labor are failing the Australian people. They're full of excuses. Watch this bloke get up now and give a whole lot of excuses for why they can't deliver what they promised.

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What I will do is outline the solutions this government has put in place. What we heard from the member for Petrie was five minutes of absolute drivel and not one solution. They do that in question time, they do that in parliament and they do that in this chamber—not one solution. I'm not surprised, because it's no different to when they were in government. They had no solution for the cost-of-living crisis and no solution for rising inflation. They just went on their merry way and left us with a trillion dollars of debt and a cooked economy. That is in stark contrast to what the Albanese government not only took to the election but also has delivered in our short 10 months in office, because we have a strong plan to address rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis in Australia, which the former government left neglected and unaddressed for a decade.

After a wasted decade of Liberal rule, the new government has inherited an economy with the cost of living going through the roof. Under the previous government we saw wages sit still for eight years—one of the most prolonged periods of wage stagnation in Australian history. Under their watch the cost of living skyrocketed and they had no plans to address it. Under their watch the national debt doubled, and Australians across the country found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet with each passing year. All this from the so-called party of economic management.

They spent a decade sitting on their hands on our economic future, with wasted opportunities and their warped priorities. They left our country with falling real wages, cost-of-living pressures and a trillion dollars worth of Liberal debt. Well, thank goodness we now have a government with a plan to tackle the cost of living and a government that is disciplined enough to deliver budget repair, which will put downward pressure on inflation.

We understand that the rising cost of living is hitting Australians hard. We're not going to sit idly by while Australians suffer to make ends meet. This is why Bennelong elected me and why Australia elected a new government—to deal with the last decade of neglect. We have a plan to relieve cost-of-living pressures, repair supply constraints and deliver responsible budgets to put downward pressure on inflation. The government knew from the very start that we needed to take immediate action to fix the economic bin fire that the Liberal-Nationals left in their wake, and that's why the very first act of this government was to support a minimum wage increase, which was sensationally opposed by those opposite. Some 2.7 million Australians are better off because this government backed a wage rise for our lowest-paid workers.

In our first budget we reinforced our commitment to ensuring we continue with a responsible and effective cost-of-living relief plan that didn't put extra pressure on inflation. We have legislated cheaper child care. We've expanded paid parental leave. We've brought down the price of medicine. We've got wages moving again. We have a plan to deliver more affordable housing. We brought in the pensioner work bonus so that older Australians can keep more of what they earn without taking a hit to their pension. And we brought the parliament back to legislate a cap on power prices—another cost-of-living measure that those opposite opposed.

We have done all this whilst being responsible economic managers. While the Liberals would consistently blow budget revenue upgrades, this government did not. In the October budget we returned 99 per cent of revenue upgrades to the budget, compared to the previous government's average of just 40 per cent. This is responsible and doesn't add further pressure on inflation in our economy.

We've introduced legislation to drive investment in cheaper and cleaner energy, putting downward pressure on power prices. Again, this was opposed by those opposite. Under the Albanese Labor government there will be more university and fee-free TAFE places, ensuring that we get more people trained in the jobs they need to be in. All outcomes of the Jobs and Skills Summit were opposed by those opposite. We've introduced the National Reconstruction Fund, investing in Australian manufacturing industry. Again, this is opposed by those opposite. In May the Treasurer will deliver a budget that includes direct energy relief, which those opposite voted against.

With all this hard work there are encouraging signs that inflation has peaked and will start to moderate throughout the year. Australians know that this government didn't create the economic challenges we face now. The former government had 10 years and they wasted each and every year and left us with a trillion dollars worth of Liberal debt. The Australian people trust us to fix these issues and take responsibility for addressing them, and we are.

Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all come in here with talking points, slogans and lines, and we hear them in the speeches. We just heard a few there, including 'a wasted decade' and 'a trillion dollars of debt'.

An honourable member: 'Liberal debt'.

Well, 'Liberal debt'. When we come here and repeat slogans like that we're not actually acknowledging what's happening in this country and we're not actually acknowledging the suffering that people are experiencing. Interest rates have risen nine consecutive times on this government's watch. I'm not going to pretend that that's all the Labor government's fault, but you are responsible for what we do from here and people are looking to you to be responsible for what we do from here.

The latest increase has a consequence for real people who are trying to live normal lives. In the seat of Menzies I'm as close as a federal Liberal gets to the centre of Melbourne. It's still a fair distance; it's off on the horizon. The closer you get to the centre of the city—and the member for Sturt is here too—the more land prices increase, so the more people have to pay to get a little bit of turf that is Australia and so they pay more for their mortgages. A typical mortgage of $750,000 doesn't get you much as you get close to the centre of Melbourne and it doesn't get you much as you get close to the centre of Adelaide, but let's take that amount—$750,000. A person or a family has to find an extra $1,700 per month, or an extra $20,000 a year. That's after-tax money. So whether you're in a single- or dual-income family, you can't walk in to your employer and say: 'Guess what? I have this bill that's your problem, not my problem, so I want you to pay me now. For me to have $20,000, I want you to give an equivalent before-tax rise,' which could be $35,000. It's just not going to happen.

We heard the member for Bennelong talk about a wage increase. Wage increases mean nothing unless they are real wage increases, so a wage increase adjusted for inflation. Each time there's inflation and an increase in interest rates, that is taken away from people's wages. If as a government you are making decisions that are increasing inflation and thereby forcing the hand of the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates, you are taking away from the spending power of families.

We heard a lot of invective from the government about the importance of the executive being accountable to the parliament, and there's no more important way than question time. Questions have been put directly to the Prime Minister. I myself have put four questions to him. It's the only time I've got to speak to the Prime Minister across that dispatch box. Some of the questions included: 'Can the Prime Minister name a single suburb in Australia where power prices have been reduced?' and 'Can the Prime Minister identify a single Australian who is paying less on their electricity bill now than they were 10 months ago?' I can name one person: the Prime Minister. I'm sure the Prime Minister had an electricity bill more than 10 months ago, but I don't think the electricity bill for the Lodge or Kirribilli lands on his personal desk. But, again, there were no answers.

As a first-term member, I am getting familiar with the standing orders. Standing orders say that an answer must be directly relevant to the question—not just relevant but directly relevant. But we don't get a directly relevant answer or an answer that is in any way relevant. It's not just because the opposition is owed an answer; it's because Australians are owed an answer. If you care about the circumstances of Australian families and Australian individuals, you will take those questions seriously and answer them seriously. They are questions like: 'What was the interest rate 10 months ago compared to today?' That should be a relatively straightforward question to answer. A directly relevant answer shouldn't be hard, but it was too hard. We asked the Prime Minister if he could identify a single mortgage holder who has seen their interest rate go down in the past 10 months or a single person whose grocery bill is lower than it was 10 months ago. The Prime Minister might say: 'I don't have anyone, but I'm going to go and find out. I'm going to go and speak to Australians and actually show that I care and that I'm listening, because I am responsible and the government is responsible.'

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is indeed an important topic. The motion is a little bit deficient. It's a random selection of facts, conveniently missing the context and things that the opposition prefer not to talk about or, indeed, are actively trying to make Australians forget. But cost-of-living pressures are the No. 1 focus of the government. People are doing it tough. I don't really take offence—it's the kind of stuff you expect from those opposite—but the silly stereotype we heard a couple of speakers ago, that somehow government members are not aware of this, is pretty offensive. I spent eight hours on Saturday, like I do many weekends, doing street stalls right across the electorate. I have another six hours booked in this Saturday. That's what good local MPs do, and there are good local MPs on both sides of the chamber, so let's cut the stereotype that somehow the government is out of touch.

Interest rates are rising, and Australians are doing it tough. There are energy price pressures, mostly for reasons beyond the former government's and this government's control, as the opposition well know. Inflationary pressures are impacting the price of food, goods and services, and we've had a decade of stagnating wages, but the cost of living has two aspects. Let's be clear. It's basic accounting: money out and money in. From my discussions on Saturday, I know that Australians are perfectly well aware of both sides of that equation. The government is taking action, though, on both fronts. We'll start with the money in, because the opposition don't like to talk about this as their record. One of the first actions we took as a government was to back a rise of 5.2 per cent to the minimum wage, helping 2.7 million Australians with a dollar an hour, as the Prime Minister said before the election. We backed a rise for aged-care workers, finally. The previous government weren't going to touch that little recommendation in the royal commission, were they? The Fair Work Commission is finalising the details now, and rightly so—around 15 per cent. We've introduced secure jobs, better pay laws, to help every worker be able to negotiate a better pay deal and get wages moving.

This contrasts profoundly with the decade of dysfunction, dithering and delay that Australians endured under the opposition, who bring this debate. Real wages went backwards under the Liberals before COVID. Here's one of those inconvenient facts that the motion could well have included. Real wages between 2013 and 2019 in this country went backwards, against the OECD trends. That's their record. But it was part of their deliberate economic management. The former finance minister Mathias Cormann admitted that. He certainly went off the talking points then, on Sky News. He said: 'Well, of course, low wages are a deliberate feature of our economic management.' That's their ideology. They actively backed cuts to penalty rates. Their record is trying to lower wages. I just want to make that clear. In a cost-of-living debate, that's one key part of the equation. What are people getting in? Are their wages going backwards? But the other side, of course, is the inflation challenge, and the motion calls for 'real action' on 'cost of living pressures'—full stop; that's the end. Well, that's exactly what the government's doing. You missed that bit out.

Inflation is the defining economic challenge of 2023, just as it was in 2022. But Australia is not alone in the developed world. We can't control Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. We can't control the recovery from the global supply-chain challenges arising from COVID, particularly in relation to China.

But what the government of Australia can control, should control and should have controlled are things that the government does. The opposition had more than 20 failed energy policies in their decade in office—I think it was 22, actually—and a lazy, inflationary economic approach to fiscal management. The March quarter of 2022 was the worst inflation record for a couple of decades. The previous government splashed cash around in every budget, whether it was for rorted grants programs—billions of dollars for stuff—or handouts, grants programs or debt-funded tax cuts. We heard one of the former speakers actually say: 'Oh, the government raised the price of petrol.' That was the former government's temporary rebate that ended—it expired, on their timetable—which was a cash splash before an election. Guess what? That's inflationary. They were the highest-taxing government in Australian history; the second-highest-taxing was John Howard's—inconvenient facts that the opposition don't like to acknowledge. You could have popped that in your motion.

But the government has a plan for responsible cost-of-living relief: for cheaper child care; for cheaper medicines; for direct energy relief, which the opposition voted no to—they actually voted no to taking the sting out of power price rises; for repairing supply-side constraints; for fee-free TAFE; for cleaner and cheaper energy; for the National Reconstruction Fund; for more affordable housing; and for responsible budget management, with spending restraint. The government returned 99 per cent of new revenue to the budget, taking pressure off inflation—in contrast to your spending-like-a-drunken-sailor record.

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

It's a really tough time for families in this country right now. Real wages are going backwards at the greatest rate for many decades. The December CPI was 7.8 per cent; the wages growth for the same period, annualised, was 3.3. So, if you're earning money and spending money, your real wealth is deteriorating dramatically right now under this government. It's the worst, as I say, it has been for many decades. And, regrettably, it is only going to get worse into the future.

The evidence for that is most simply seen by looking at the Labor Party's own budget, which they handed down last October and said that electricity prices over two years would be going up by 56 per cent and natural gas by more than 40 per cent.

The previous speaker has got a new talking point now, 'taking the sting out of the tail'. Apparently, we should be grateful that electricity prices are only going up by more than 20 per cent in my home state of South Australia—we should be grateful for that! It could have been even worse. And apparently that's something for the people of Australia to lay down and praise the government for—a government that said it was going to reduce electricity prices by $275 a year for the average household bill. Now we should be grateful that the sting is out of the tail and that this year they're only going to be going up, in my home state of South Australia, by more than 20 per cent!

Interest rates, of course, are climbing dramatically. We know that the Reserve Bank meets next week. We hope, for the families of this nation, that we see a pause in interest rates increasing. But, regrettably, there is a chance that they will go up again. Since the last meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia, of course the US Fed has again increased interest rates; the Bank of England has again increased interest rates; the European Central Bank has again increased interest rates, as have the Norwegian central bank and Sweden's central bank. Regrettably, we are seeing that countries that have already had the peak of their inflation well before ours—which I sincerely hope was, in fact, in December—are still increasing interest rates. In the United States, their cash rate is dramatically higher than ours and, as I say, has increased again since the last meeting.

So there is this real spectre of interest rates continuing to go up further. But, even if they don't—even if they stay where they are—this is going to have a brutal impact on all those mortgage holders who are coming off fixed rates, of which we know there are 800,000 this year.

Even though we care for the plight of people who are struggling to get in to the property market, the people at the greatest disadvantage right now are those who locked in an interest rate when the cash rate was at 0.1 per cent, who are going to have that mortgage mature and are going to be refinanced and see their average mortgage repayments, already, if interest rates don't go up any further, more than doubling. The impact of that on the household budget, where your mortgage is, of course, your biggest cost, is going to be extreme and dramatic. People will be cancelling family holidays. They will have to reconsider whether they can meet some of the education expenses that they've got if they send their children to private school. Maybe it's too difficult to afford private health insurance going forward. They will certainly not be going to the local cafe or the local pub as much for a family outing because costs are going up so dramatically.

At the same time, real wages are decreasing, so the amount of money you've got in your pocket relative to the costs in your household budget is going backwards, and that was in the December quarter. The war in Ukraine and other things have obviously had an impact, but, when I consult the oil price today, it's at $75 a barrel, so the oil price is now lower than it's been for the last five years. Of course, that's in nominal terms, not in real terms. So, when you adjust that for inflation, oil prices at the moment are lower than they've ever been. So one of the main purported issues caused by war overseas would surely be higher oil prices, yet they are at an all-time low right now. It is just not acceptable to blame overseas forces. They are, frankly, not at play.

What is at play is that we have a government that is not taking this cost-of-living challenge seriously and is not making the decisions that are within their power to give real and significant relief to that crisis that families are struggling with. They were told that, if they voted Labor, power bills would come down and all of these challenges would not exist. Regrettably, for those Australians who are good-natured people and believed those promises, the complete opposite has occurred, and all the significant elements of the household budget are increasing at a rate that is completely out of control. We, obviously, call upon the government to take this seriously, to do something meaningful and to honour their election promises. If you can't do that, at least come clean with people and admit that, under this government, we are going to continue to see this cost-of-living crisis spiral out of control.

Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I doorknock in Tangney to listen to my constituents, I hear many things. Pride, joy, frustration and concern are some of the sentiments I receive on how this government is doing. Nine out of 10 will tell me that their families and themselves are stressed due to the cost-of-living pressure, and I feel it too. I see interest rates and the price of food and fuel all going up. Almost everything costs more. The rising cost of living concerns everyone, regardless of where you live. Inflation is a defining economic challenge of 2023. As of the last quarterly CPI data, inflation sits at a 32-year high of 32.8 per cent.

Let me be clear: this government did not create these challenges. However, we were elected to take responsibility for addressing them, and we are delivering. Our Albanese government is committed to taking action to help everyday Australians. Our economic plan is a direct and deliberate response to the challenges facing our economy. We are committed to responsible cost-of-living relief through measures such as cheaper child care, cheaper medicine and direct energy bill relief. We understand that these are essential services for many Australians, and we are working to make them more affordable, because we care. We are repairing supply-side constraints through free TAFE courses, cleaner and cheaper energy, and the National Reconstruction Fund, which is critical to setting up the pathway for future prosperity for Australians. We are planning for more affordable housing, ensuring that all Australians can have access to secure and affordable housing. We are also being responsible in our budget, by spending with restraint, with consideration and with compassion. We are returning almost all revenue upgrades to the bottom line and keeping spending flat over the next four years to not add to inflation.

I'm proud to be part of a government that has compassion and is able to empathise. One of the first actions taken by the Albanese government was to successfully argue for the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation. This outcome helped around 2.7 million Australians. The previous government oversaw a decade of wasted opportunity and prioritised their own self-interest. We have heard it so many times: a trillion dollars of debt without any economic dividend to show for it—wasted opportunities and wasted time.

Fellow members, I know that we are going through an economically challenging time. Every economy is enduring unprecedented challenges due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. We are still in the recovery stage, but, despite the pressures, our Albanese government is committed to ensuring that all Australians can come through this as a stronger and more resilient nation. It is not easy, nor is it quick, but I know that through hard work and perseverance we can, as a team, make sure this plan becomes a reality. Our government plan is comprehensive, responsible and compassionate. We are committed to relief, repair and restraint in our effort to address inflation, because, when we work together as representatives of our wonderful electorates to push for change and reform, we can ensure that our constituents continue to prosper and thrive. Our government has delivered and will continue to deliver strong outcomes that all Australians can be proud of. Thank you.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned, and resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting week.