House debates Questions without Notice
Cost of Living
Libby Coker Corangamite, Australian Labor Party
2:24 pm
My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the government's responsible budget management helping take the pressure off households and enabling the government to invest in cost-of-living relief?
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister
I thank the member for Corangamite for her question about the cost-of-living pressures facing Australian families, because that is, of course, the No. 1 issue that the government is focused on. There are three vital ways we're tackling cost of living—
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Opposition Members:
Opposition members interjecting—
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister
We get no questions on cost of living from those opposite—none. We're focused on getting costs down for families, getting wages up for workers and getting the budget onto a stronger foundation. We're managing the budget responsibly, and the question goes to that. We inherited a $78 billion deficit and turned that into a $22 billion surplus—a $100 billion turnaround and the first surplus in 15 years after the former government promised a surplus in their first year and every year thereafter when they were elected in 2013.
The result of that is that the Fitch Ratings agency, last week, reaffirmed our AAA rating. They said:
The government has saved the bulk of the recent revenue windfalls, indicating a desire to maintain a fiscal stance supportive of reducing inflation and pursue prudent fiscal policies.
That's what we have done.
We have three policies to drive down inflation, one of which is responsible fiscal policy. The second is dealing with supply chain issues, including fixing some of our trade relationships that were broken while the former government was in office.
David Littleproud Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture
How many trade agreements did you sign?
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister
You had good trade agreements; you just didn't have any trade! That was the problem!
Milton Dick Speaker
The Leaders of the Nationals will cease interjecting.
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister
You had ministers who couldn't get a return phone call from their counterparts; that's what you had over there—but really good agreements!
The third element is our targeted cost-of-living relief of $23 billion—cheaper medicines, affordable housing, energy bill relief, higher wages, cheaper child care. What do all those have in common? They were all opposed by those opposite. The Leader of the Opposition has nothing positive to offer the nation. Of course, he was out there saying, after the last budget, because already you have a ratings agency—he was out there talking about our AAA rating being negatively impacted. None of that has happened. He says the sky will fall in. We will continue to manage the budget responsibly. (Time expired)