Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor's spendathon is costing the people of my electorate dearly. Commonwealth spending has blown out from around 24 per cent to 27 per cent of GDP. It's the highest level outside of a recession in nearly four decades. Debt is now projected to climb to $1.2 trillion by the next election, and local families in my electorate are paying the price. They are paying through higher inflation driven by out-of-control government spending. They are paying again through higher interest rates, with more pressure likely to be piled on in 2026. Every mortgage holder in my electorate feels it and every small business feels it.

But the opportunity cost of Labor's reckless spending is just as staggering. The federal Labor government is now paying around $50,000 every single minute just to service interest on the national debt. Imagine what that money could achieve in my electorate, across the Redlands. With just half a day's interest payments, we could green-seal every remaining unsealed road on the southern Moreton Bay Islands. With a single day's interest payments, we could fund stages 2 and 3 of the duplication of Wellington Street in Cleveland, a project of which stage 1 was funded under the former coalition government. With just a couple of weeks of interest payments, we could deliver a much-needed expansion of Redland Hospital. This is the cost of waste, and this is the cost that my community is paying for this Labor government.