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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Why did the Prime Minister repeatedly promise to cut power bills before the election but has never mentioned this promise since the election? Given the Prime Minister once stated, 'If you make a promise and a commitment, you do have to stick to it,' why did he say one thing before the election and another after it? How can Australians be expected to believe anything the Prime Minister says when it comes to the cost-of-living challenges facing Australian families?

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

I thank the Leader of the Opposition, and I welcome him back to the playing field. He was the Neale Fraser of the opposition, the non-playing captain, just observing the team. But today he is back, and that is a very good thing.

We inherited, as the Leader of the Opposition is aware, a circumstance where we had the Russian invasion of Ukraine and we also had supply chain issues. That's something that was identified, indeed, by the Leader of the Opposition. So I refer the Leader of the Opposition to his own comments about supply chain issues and the impact they were having on inflation and also to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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

The Prime Minister will pause. I will just hear from the Leader of the Opposition on a point of order.

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

It's on relevance, Mr Speaker. This was a question about the Prime Minister's truthfulness and why he can't be believed when he says one thing before an election and does the complete opposite—

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

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. The question was about commitments before the election. It was about the issue of the cost of living. It was, by anyone's interpretation, quite a broad question. The Prime Minister is being relevant. If he is not, I will pull him into line with the question.

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

The Leader of the Opposition said this about inflation:

… it's a reality of a world where there's inflation. I think Australians understand that they're at historically low levels, but there's a lot of pressure—upward pressure—on interest rates at the moment.

The shadow finance minister said:

We know the pressures that the international situation and supply chains are putting on inflation and subsequently interest rates.

The shadow finance minister, personally chosen by the Leader of the Opposition, had that to say in March 2023 in a moment of clarity and a moment of honesty. But they come in here and pretend something very different.