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

The people of Petrie are doing it tough under this Labor government. Fourteen months ago, when he was Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister made some promises that life would be cheaper under him, under the Labor Party. This was shared in a headline in the Australian on 22 May 2022. He also promised at the national Labor campaign launch in 2022 that mortgage repayments would be cheaper under him, and on 97 occasions he promised to lower electricity bills by $275. Clearly, on every single one of those promises he has failed miserably, and so has the Labor government. They were clear KPIs, key performance indicators, from the Prime Minister: life would be cheaper under him, mortgage repayments would be reduced, electricity costs would be lower by $275.

This high-inflation, high-interest-rate environment is impacting my constituents considerably. Stacey from Deception Bay says:

There is no space for anything entertaining for the kids, eating healthy e.g. groceries … no movies, no dinners out, no … spending time with friends. I am a one income family.

Nikki Civitarese from Griffin says:

Rent rises due to rate rises—

12 since Labor were elected—

on top of the fuel increases, on top of failed energy plans and increased energy costs, on top of government spending … all of this has a major impact on our cost of living.

Amaya Greig, from North Lake, says: 'I am impacted the same as all mortgage holders: a thousand dollars or more per month on top of what I was paying previously, on top of the cost of living.' For Amaya, that's an additional $12,000 a year or more since the Prime Minister was elected. Life was cheaper under the Liberal and National coalition; that's clear. The Labor government have broken election promises, clearly.

Alex Connell, from Bald Hills, says:

I have sales data that represents this trend—

the trend that consumer confidence has dropped—

as well as Google data that shows a decrease in demand relative to this time last year, even relative to Christmas.

Henry Johanson, from Deception Bay, says: 'My rent has increased by $300 in twelve months. Labor government'—

that is, the Queensland Labor government—'changes to laws mean that landlords can only raise rent once a year but now increases are larger.'

Kea McCarthy, from Deception Bay, says:

My lease is running out and I can't find a suitable home … Fingers crossed we get something soon, otherwise it's storage and camping.

The issue is that the Albanese Labor government's budget did nothing for working families, nothing for middle-income Australia—the vast majority of people in my electorate. There is an alternative, and that is a Liberal-National government. We will continue to fight hard and put forward alternative policies to those of this bad government that's currently leading Australia.