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

Australians are poorer under Labor. The Prime Minister promised before the election that he would deliver a $275 reduction in power prices. What do we see, Mr Speaker? We see prices up by at least 30 per cent.

The Prime Minister promised before the election that there would be cheaper mortgages. What do we see, Mr Speaker? We see, for the average mortgage in Australia, $22,000 higher interest repayments now, after a year of Labor—$22,000, nearly $2000 a month, when we were promised cheaper mortgages from Labor. We see uncontrolled inflation and a Treasurer who comes to this parliament every day and says, 'We've done nothing to make it worse.' He doesn't even try to argue that Labor has tried to make inflation better. And that's what's driving mortgage rates for the average Australian.

In this parliament today we see nothing from Labor to address the cost-of-living crisis and the housing crisis being faced by Australians. We see dwelling approvals down, we see the number of first home buyers down and we see the number of dwellings being built down—all under the watch of the Labor Party. What do we see here today? We see no answers; just a plan for 1.5 million more migrants, with nowhere for those migrants to live.

The coalition calls on the government to develop an economic plan to help Australians who are hurting. (Time expired)