Simon Kennedy (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Tomorrow, it will be 1,000 days since the election, where the Prime Minister promised life would be cheaper under him. Instead, food is up 12 per cent, gas is up 34 per cent, rents are up 17 per cent, and Australian families have paid $50,000 more on a typical mortgage. Why won't the Prime Minister apologise to Australians for his weak leadership, bad decisions and wrong priorities?

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

I thank the member for Cook. I wasn't aware it was 1,000 days since we were elected. I noticed, when government changed hands last time, when government last changed hands, Tony Abbott didn't make it to his second anniversary, because all of the cuts to health and education and the ABC all came in. In spite of the massive majority that they were elected with, those opposite knocked off their own leader before the second anniversary, including this guy here.

I'm asked about the cost of living. The member for Cook is now part of a show that opposed energy bill relief, because you wanted people to be worse off, I assume; opposed cheaper medicine, because the member wanted people to pay more; opposed higher wages, because the member wanted people to earn less; and opposed tax cuts, because the member wanted people to be worse off. That is not our approach.

I noticed the Leader of the Opposition this week saying, about interest rates, that the RBA governor shouldn't feel pressured one way or the other, because she can cut rates and then find out they've been cut too early. Well, I'll just leave that out there for people to read into it what they will.

But we on this side of the chamber want people to be better off. We want standards of living to rise, not fall, which is why we've done the hard yards to decrease inflation and to increase wages whilst, as the Treasurer just said, having unemployment lower, on average, than any government over the last 50 years. And that's at a time when, in some of our competitive nations—advanced economies—unemployment hit double digits and inflation hit double digits. There were all sorts of problems in those countries.

We know that people have been under pressure, but that's why we've taken action. What's extraordinary is that, if the opposition had got their way, Australians would have been, on average, $7,200 worse off. If ever they sit on this side of the chamber, we know that Australians will be worse off, because they call relief 'sugar hits'. Make no mistake, if they have their way, Australians will be worse off and Australians will have to pay.