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

When I ask my constituents, the beautiful residents of the most beautiful part of Australia on the Mornington Peninsula, what concerns them most I get varied answers, but there are some common themes. They want better infrastructure, of course, better roads, some public transport and fixed roads. They want far less red tape in their lives, from permits to employment, immigration and navigating aged care and support services like the NDIS. They want easy access to skilled workers and affordable accommodation for them to live in. They want to keep more of what they earn and not be punished for making sacrifices to provide for their family.

In Victoria, it seems there are new taxes every day—more payroll tax, more land tax, more COVID tax, more tax. They want a sensible and realistic transition away from a heavy reliance on fossil fuels but ensuring that we still have reliable, constant and affordable energy. They want local businesses to flourish, businesses that can grow and provide employment for the next generation of local families. Above all, they want the spiralling cost-of-living crisis to stop.

There is an interesting connection between most of these concerns and the Albanese government. They're all related to Labor's promises to the Australian people in the lead-up to last May's election. And yet, not one of them has been delivered, not in any meaningful way which actually improves local lives and livelihoods. Australians, on average, now have less money in their pockets. There is a fantastic plan to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy—and when I say 'fantastic', I mean fantastic in its original sense of derivative of fantasy—the implementation of which will require 22,000 solar panels a day, the erection of 40 wind turbines a month and roughly 28,000 kilometres of power lines. Their energy bills are simultaneously skyrocketing. Australians are paying higher mortgages and higher rents now than before. The average mortgage holder must now find 20,000 additional dollars every year to cover repayments. There businesses are struggling with the weight of seven per cent inflation and the poor economic management of this government. And yet every day the cost-of-living crisis worsens.

On every measure, my residents are financially worse off under this government. Let me provide some examples of my constituents doing it tough. Max from Point Leo, who runs his own manufacturing business, pays land tax of $14,800 on his business premises, plus rates on top, increased energy costs, various levies and more and more taxes. They all have to be passed onto consumers one way or the other for the business to survive. Joe and Julie from Mornington wrote to me about their soaring energy bills. They calculated that, based on their past usage, their gas bill will increase by almost $700 this year, which is a 50 per cent increase. Terri, a pensioner in Balnarring, told my office that her electricity bill had increased by more than 40 per cent in just the last 12 months. Eddie from Hastings calculated that his energy bill will increase by 39 per cent this year alone, and that was before the recent increase in there default price in Victoria. Gail, another pensioner, in Safety Beach, explained that her electricity bill would increase to $1,029 this year and that, due to her husband's ill health, she can't go out to get a job to help support them. Gail's email to me painted a very sombre picture of the difficulties many pensioners in my electorate are facing, having to dig further into their modest retirement savings to pay the bills. Gail closed her email succinctly: 'The Labor government is clueless when it comes to people's problems.'

Tom and Sophia said that their mortgage payments have gone up by $7,000 a year in just over 12 months. A gentleman from Flinders who rang my office yesterday explained that things are getting so bad that, in his network of family and friends, people are getting scared and frightened. He explained that one of his friends confided in him that he felt like he was being punished and that the government was not listening. He raised concerns about people not being able to afford their rising rent costs and their medication. Heartbreakingly, he shared his own story. He can no longer afford to drive to the hospital to get his own medication. David from Safety Beach reported how much he was looking forward to the power bill reduction of $275, even though he spends almost that amount on medical bills every month.

Other businesses I spoke about earlier this week in this chamber, such as Sealite in Somerville or Bass and Flinders Distillery in Dromana—proud local businesses—all feel the stress of rising interest rates, rising energy bills and rising inflation that they have to pass onto their customers. But they realise that shortly customers won't be able to pay any more. Wallets are shutting and demand is dropping—even for beer, a local brewer told me last week. This government is punishing enterprise and punishing hard work. Frankly, it's just not good enough.