House debates Questions without Notice

Cost of Living

Monday, 27 March 2023 House of Representatives

Angus Taylor

Angus Taylor Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer

2:20 pm

My question is to the Prime Minister. Increased mortgage payments and rising costs of living mean Victorians with a mortgage will pay more than $19,000 extra this year. They'll be $19,000 worse off this year. Will this out-of-touch Prime Minister finally admit that Australian families always pay more under Labor?

Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister

2:21 pm

I'll tell you something that'll make a difference to living standards: that's getting wages going again.

Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick

Milton Dick Speaker

Order! Members on my left.

Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister

Philip Lowe, the RBA governor, might know something about it. He said this on 8 March:

…wages growth is stronger than it was a few years ago, which is a welcome development. It is also positive that the rate of wages growth remains consistent with the inflation target…

Something else that'll make a difference for people, wherever they live—even in the state electorate of Wollondilly and other areas as well—is the record number of Australians that are in full-time employment. I'm very proud that, in the first six months of this government, more jobs were created than under the first six months of any government going back as far as records are kept.

The other thing that will make a difference in terms of people's—

Milton Dick

Milton Dick Speaker

Order. The member for McEwen will cease interjecting. I'll hear from the member for Hume on a point of order.

Angus Taylor

Angus Taylor Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer

It was a very specific question. It was about Victorians with a mortgage being worse off.

Milton Dick

Milton Dick Speaker

The question was on rising costs of living and mortgages, about extra pain this year and about families. I will call the Prime Minister back to—

Opposition members interjecting—

Order! I can't hear the Prime Minister at the moment because there are far too many people interjecting. If you want me to make these rulings, I've got to be able to hear what the Prime Minister is saying.

Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister

The other thing that would have made a difference is if the member opposite had delivered on his election promise to reduce the wholesale electricity price to $70 per megawatt hour by the end of 2021, instead of the $286 that was delivered by this bloke opposite. He is the worst energy minister that Australia has ever had.

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick

Milton Dick Speaker

The House will come to order so I can hear from the member for Corangamite.