Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The RBA has just confirmed the worst fears of Australians. Interest rates have risen by a quarter of a per cent, meaning the mortgage repayments of millions of Australians will rise. The Prime Minister promised that Australia had 'turned the corner' on inflation and that his government had it 'under control'. The Prime Minister took credit for rate cuts last year. Will he now take responsibility for the rate rise today?

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

We've acknowledged, certainly, that many Australians are doing it tough, and that is why we have engaged in responsible economic management, turning those massive budget deficits into budget surpluses and smaller deficits going forward. It's why we have made sure that we've paid off some of that Liberal debt by lowering the amount of debt that is owed.

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

It's just a fact—$176 billion. That's why we went to the election in 2025 promising lower taxes and lower deficits than those opposite, than the shadow leader over there. What we have done is continue to engage during all of that, dealing with those macroeconomic issues whilst making sure, because we understand that people are doing it tough—it's not enough just to express grievance. What you have to do is come up with solutions, and that is what we have done, whether it be a tax cut for every taxpayer, which they opposed—they opposed it at the time, remember? Before they even saw what it was, they said they were against it and they'd reverse it—they'd turn it over. They then opposed and actually went to an election saying they would reverse the legislated tax cuts that come in on 1 July.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Wannon on a point of order?

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It just goes to relevance. This was a very specific question about taking responsibility for the interest rate rise.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question was specific, but it was broad in the preamble, accusing the Prime Minister of things, so I think he'll—

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Worst fears!

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Goldstein will leave the chamber under 94(a)—for goodness sake!

The member for Goldstein then left the chamber.

When we're trying to deal with points of order—and to give the member for Wannon a fair go—chirping away is not the way to do it. The member for Wannon has raised his point of order on relevance. I'm going to make sure the Prime Minister is being directly relevant to the question he was asked, but it was broad in its context. I'm asking him to return to the question.

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

I note the interjections from those opposite. They take these issues so seriously that they're playing bets on who can get thrown out of parliament first, as the member for Goldstein leaves the chamber—the shadow manager of opposition business. What we have done—

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The House is going to settle down. There have been far too many interjections. We're going to deal with this in an orderly way. The Prime Minister will continue and be heard in silence.

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

There are the tax cuts that were opposed by those opposite, including the one that will come in in July this year and the one next year, and the 15 per cent wage increases for aged-care and childcare workers, which those opposite described as waste, helping people to earn more and keep more of what they earn. We cut student debt by 20 per cent—they said that was waste as well—making an enormous difference to three million Australians, making them $5½ thousand better off. Over 70,000 student nurses, midwives, social workers and teachers now actually get paid prac during their placements, and 725,000 Australians have benefited from free TAFE. There are cheaper medicines. There are over 200,000 cheaper home batteries, which are cutting electricity bills of households. These are measures that a responsible government does to actually make a difference.