Dai Le (Fowler, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that:

(a) Australians are still battling a cost of living crisis, with many low and middle income families already unable to absorb surging mortgages, rent, energy bills and everyday essentials as annual inflation sits at about 3.8 per cent, above the Reserve Bank's two to three per cent target band;

(b) the higher than expected inflation outcome has increased the likelihood of a further cash rate rise next month, which would push already stretched households to the brink, forcing many to choose between meeting their mortgage, paying the rent or covering basic necessities; and

(c) high mortgage stress electorates such as the electoral division of Fowler, where many families are on low and modest incomes and have little to no financial buffer, are among the hardest hit by the combination of higher prices, higher interest rates and shrinking household budgets; and

(2) calls on the Government to ensure that any policies it introduces tackle the roots of cost of living, does not further exacerbate inflation rates and that it works with, and not against, the Reserve Bank's efforts to bring inflation back to target.

This week, a young constituent named Kimberley shared her family's cost of living challenges. Their energy bill has tripled, from around $400 to $1,200 a quarter. Their car insurance has gone up by 25 per cent, and the family has two cars. Their rent has increased as well. Groceries, fuel and tolls are also on the up. Kimberley works part time and studies, and she's grateful to be able to support her family. But I couldn't help but notice the worry in her voice.

Then there's Caroline Gorges, a mother from Wakeley in my electorate. She wrote that her family is being stretched to breaking point. Her mortgage has gone up again. Groceries keep climbing. Power bills keep climbing. She told me that at the end of each month she sits at the kitchen table, calculator in hand, trying to decide which bill gets paid first—the registration or the groceries, the gas or the mortgage. And she said something that really struck me:

We're not asking for handouts. Just understanding. Real help. Real government policies that make a difference.

And James from Liverpool messaged me saying:

plz Dai, it's all about the cost of living and the cost of living comes down to one thing, the cost of energy.

When you hear stories like this, you cannot help but ask what it is that we are actually doing in this place to make life easier for families in Fowler and south-west Sydney and probably across Australia. The increasing number of batteries that the government keeps on boasting about—the last I heard was around 250,000 installed—is not the answer to these families struggles nor the sugar hit rebates. Families feel that, despite doing everything right—working hard, studying, paying their taxes—they're still falling behind.

It isn't just households. Our small businesses and the industrial engine of our electorate are red lining. From the cafes in Cabramatta to the manufacturers in Wetherill Park, I hear the same thing: the cost of doing business is becoming impossible. When a local manufacturer sees their electricity costs double and their overheads skyrocket, they just don't absorb them. They cut staff, they reduce hours or, heartbreakingly, they shut down. Make no mistake, small business is the lifeblood of Fowler, and manufacturing is our backbone. If these engines fail, the entire machine stalls, and the repercussions will be felt for a generation. We are losing the local employers and the very foundation of our community's prosperity.

When ordinary Australians see, or listen to, what we do in this House, they don't see a solution. They see a stage. While many of our leaders deliver media grabbing performances at the dispatch box in the House, real lives in the real world are falling apart. While the government are busy managing the optics and worrying about their next 30-second grab, my constituents are managing the crumbs left in their bank accounts. People are sick of performance. They're frustrated, angry, disillusioned and worried, and they're tired of hearing that the economy is resilient when they're skipping meals to pay their rent.

In Fowler, many of our households are large, multigenerational families. There is no saving cushion. Every policy failure hits the kitchen table tomorrow. That is why I hold my Bring Your Bill days. I see the invoices for tolls, water, energy and gas. I see the math that doesn't add up. These are proud, hardworking people. They don't want a government that treats their suffering like a PR problem to be managed.

As we approach the May 2026 budget, the government needs to step off the stage and do some actual work. Stop the red tape that is strangling our small-business owners and manufacturers. I have heard this so often from successive governments, yet nothing seems to change. Instead of reducing red tape, they've added more hurdles, green tape and more taxes.

Deliver reliable energy that doesn't treat a basic utility like a luxury. It's not just about installing home batteries for those who can afford it but real structural energy policy changes so people like Kimberley, Caroline and James don't have to face the threefold increases in their energy bills. Stop the wasteful spending on pet projects that fuel the very inflation hurting our families. Behind every interest rate rise and every percentage point of inflation is a real family and a real business owner suffering. I have stood here since 2022 raising these alarms. I will keep standing here until the government stops acting and starts governing for the people of Fowler and Australia. Our country's engine is stalling. It's time to stop the show and start the repairs.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government's No. 1 priority is to keep delivering cost-of-living relief for Australians. We're focused on helping on so many levels, from tax cuts for every taxpayer and a pay rise for our lowest-paid workers to cheaper home batteries and slashing student debt, because we know every little bit helps.

Our record investment in Medicare is at the heart of our cost-of-living relief, with a focus on cheaper medicines and reducing healthcare costs. I'm so pleased that, since the Albanese Labor government's GP bulk-billing incentives were introduced, on 1 November 2025, the number of fully bulk-billing medical practices in Gilmore has more than doubled. There are now 32 fully bulk-billing practices operating across my electorate. This means it's easier for locals to see a doctor and it's saving families hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket medical expenses.

Our Medicare urgent care clinics are saving families money by offering free walk-in health support seven days a week. The Batemans Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic has been invaluable for locals and visitors alike over the busy summer holiday period, helping with stings, breaks and other urgent but non-life-threatening care. And I'm so excited that the new Nowra clinic will open its doors on Thursday, providing much-needed walk-in care seven days a week and taking pressure off the busy Shoalhaven Memorial Hospital emergency department.

From 1 January, we've made the biggest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS, with all PBS scripts now $25 or less—the cheapest they've been in more than two decades. And our landmark $792.9 million women's health package has helped more than 660,000 women access cheaper medicines, including contraceptives, menopausal hormone therapies and endometriosis treatment, in the last year. That's our government delivering more choice, lower costs and better care for Australian women.

Labor has provided more free health care, energy bill relief for every household, free TAFE and so much more to help families. Every taxpayer, including 64,000 people in Gilmore, will receive another tax cut in July this year. That's money going straight back into the pockets of hardworking locals. We've expanded paid parental leave to 24 weeks, and super is now being paid on that as well. This is such a massive help for new parents and young families.

We're giving housing apprentices a leg-up, with a $10,000 bonus on top of their wages, and we're supporting our nursing, teaching, social work and midwifery students with paid pracs to help cover the costs of accommodation, travel and uniforms. More than 14,000 students in Gilmore are also saving an average of $5,500, with their student debt slashed. Of course, one close to my heart is permanent free TAFE. As a former TAFE teacher, I've seen firsthand how TAFE changes lives for the better. I'm seeing local school leavers now studying for free and older people upskilling in priority areas, like disability, aged care, construction and early childhood education. We've delivered a 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators, and we're opening the doors for eligible families to access three days of subsidised child care per week.

Gilmore has one of the highest numbers of seniors and age pensioners of any electorate, so I'm thrilled that we're supporting our wonderful aged-care nurses with another pay rise. Labor is delivering on our ambitious $45 billion plan to build more homes, get more Australians into homeownership and get renters a better deal. We're getting young Australians into homeownership through our five per cent deposit scheme, and our Help to Buy scheme is helping low- and moderate-income earners, who have previously been locked out of homeownership.

As of this week, 2,450 homeowners in Gilmore have taken advantage of our Cheaper Home Batteries Program to cut their power bills, and more community batteries are being rolled out in the regions, including four in Gilmore this month, to help more households share in cheaper, cleaner energy from the sun. I know people in my electorate are feeling the pinch, and that's why I'm proud to be part of a government that is getting on with delivering things that matter most to families in my community.

Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The cost-of-living crisis is having devastating impacts in regional Australia and the Calare electorate. It's a grim picture. In the 12 months to January 2026, Australia's inflation rate was 3.8 per cent. Electricity and gas prices continue to be a major source of financial strain. Persistent increases to food prices have climbed across many essential categories, including fresh produce, meat and dairy, and they contribute significantly to everyday household budget stress. Interest rates are going up, and, along with it, mortgage stress is on the rise. Fuel prices continue to rise. Home, car and health insurance premiums are rapidly increasing. Overall, these essential costs are rising faster than wages, and country Australians are hurting as a result. Businesses are struggling to stay afloat. A constituent from Lithgow contacted me recently and said: 'I'm writing because, frankly, I've reached my breaking point. I care for my mum while barely surviving myself. I live in fear of rent hikes that could leave me homeless. Lithgow has no mental health services for people like me. Waitlists are a joke, and I've been told to just call Lifeline. Last week, I chose between feeding myself and feeding my cat.' My constituent goes on to write: 'I don't want platitudes; I want a plan. It feels like no-one in power cares if people like me live or die.'

A constituent, Peter, who is a pensioner, also wrote to me and said, 'I am writing to express deep concern regarding the rising cost of living, particularly its impact on pensioners residing in Orange.' Peter highlighted the rising cost of electricity and said: 'The daily supply charge of electricity has now reached $1.80, a staggering increase of 50c per day. For pensioners on fixed incomes, this is a significant burden. It raises the question: where can one afford to live and still enjoy a modest quality of life?'

Another constituent, Jason from Mudgee, wrote to me and said: 'Across Mudgee and the wider Calare electorate, people are feeling the cost-of-living crisis more severely than those in metropolitan areas. Yet the federal government continues to rely almost exclusively on interest rate rises as its main economic tool, despite this being outdated and increasingly ineffective. This lack of modern thinking is failing regional Australians, who are already under pressure from high fuel prices, rising rents and house shortages, soaring groceries and supermarket price manipulation, steep increases in insurance and energy bills, supply shortages affecting farmers, tradies and small business, and wages that aren't keeping up with inflation. Meanwhile, the sector's actually causing inflation. Energy companies, insurance giants and supermarkets continue to operate without meaningful accountability. Other advanced countries have modernised their inflation tools. Australia has not.' Jason goes on to state, 'Regional Australians cannot be expected to carry the weight of poor policy decisions made in Canberra.'

Jason makes very good points, as do all of my constituents. Nearly one-third of Australia's population, around seven million people, live in regional and rural areas. But this gap between city and country is only getting wider, and it's being exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis. Country people have 15 per cent lower incomes and 22 per cent lower net household worth compared with those living in metropolitan areas. Country people face 30 per cent higher costs for essential food items, such as fresh fruit and vegetables and bread. Country people experience inequitable health outcomes, including higher rates of hospitalisation, chronic disease and premature and preventable death. Country people face greater housing insecurity and overcrowding and greater housing affordability issues. Country people experience rental stress above the New South Wales state average, with more than 38 per cent of households affected in the regions. We have growing social housing waitlists, with nearly 26,000 vulnerable households across regional New South Wales seeking secure housing. Homelessness is a rising issue, with rough sleeping surging by 51 per cent since 2020, primarily driven by an increase in the cost of living. Homelessness in regional communities just keeps continuing to grow.

The cost-of-living crisis is having devastating impacts in regional Australia, and country people shouldn't bear the brunt. We are calling on the government to take immediate and urgent action to address this cost-of-living pain and the devastation that it's causing.

Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fowler for bringing forward this motion because on her main point we agree; Australian households are under pressure. This is something the government has always acknowledged and has been central to our economic management since coming to office. Across my electorate, I hear from families and older residents who are feeling the weight of cost-of-living pressures. They don't need to be told times are tough; they live it every day when they open a bill or fill up their car.

But what Australians also deserve is the full picture, not selective snapshots, not economic amnesia and certainly not sensationalist headlines that ignore the real reasons we got to this point. When we came to office, inflation was 6.1 per cent and rising. Underlying inflation was around five per cent. Wages were going backwards. We inherited large deficits and $1 trillion of Liberal debt, and there was no serious plan to deal with any of it. Today, inflation remains higher than we would like and has done for longer than we would like, but it is much lower than what we inherited. Underlying inflation has fallen significantly, real wages have been growing, unemployment remains low, participation is near record high, business investment is strengthening, debt is down and the budget is in much better shape.

That progress didn't happen by accident; it happened because this government made responsible choices—choices that aimed to ease pressure without making inflation worse. That is why our approach has been disciplined and targeted, providing real relief without adding to inflationary pressure. We focused on where families feel it most: health, education and essential costs. We are restoring and strengthening Medicare after a decade of neglect. We have tripled the bulk-billing incentive so more Australians can see their GP for free. We capped PBS medicines at $25 a script, the lowest it's been in decades. We are training more doctors and nurses. It is affordable, accessible health care so Australians no longer have to decide between a check-up and the bill at the checkout counter.

We are delivering affordable early learning and expanding paid parental leave. We are backing increases to minimum and award wages so working Australians can earn more and keep more of what they earn. We've also delivered practical relief while investing in productivity. Fee-free TAFE is helping Australians retrain in areas our economy needs. Cutting student debt by 20 per cent delivered immediate cost-of-living relief to millions without driving inflation. We've strengthened the social safety net for those on low and fixed incomes. Back-to-back increases to rent assistance are helping around a million households. Higher social security payments are supporting more than 1.1 million Australians. We're extending parenting payment (single) so tens of thousands of single parents can receive support for longer. When it comes to tax reform, we are delivering three tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer: one already delivered, one on its way this year and another next, with more than 14 million Australians benefiting thus far.

Inflation doesn't always moderate in a straight line. We've seen that globally. The recent uptick is unwelcome, but the Reserve Bank has made clear that stronger private demand, not fiscal recklessness, has been the key difference in forecasts. Public demand was not the driver. That is why we remain focused on the right priorities, bringing inflation down further, uplifting productivity and navigating global uncertainty. It stands in stark contrast to the opposition. They speak about cost of living but voted against cheaper early learning. They opposed energy bill relief. They opposed measures to lift wages. They offer megaphones and slogans but no plans. You cannot fight inflation with a megaphone and a wish list. You fight it with discipline, targeted support and a clear economic strategy.

Australians voted for higher living standards, higher wages, and secure, well-paid jobs. We recognise people are under pressure, and we're doing something about it. We will continue delivering responsible cost-of-living relief while strengthening the economy and building a more resilient future because Australians deserve practical support that makes a difference, not political theatre, and that is exactly what this government will continue to deliver.

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

Back in reality, it's important that we stand up and speak out about the real challenges Australians are living with cost-of-living pressure. I just heard a speech from the member for Maribyrnong which truly was the very definition of audacity and denial. We have a government that simply does not seem to understand that it is pouring debt petrol onto the inflation fire. This is not based on some sort of academic assessment; it is what Australians are living right now. They're waking up, dropping their kids off to school and finding their way to work. They're going to the supermarket at the end of the day, and every day, when they check out their items, they are experiencing fewer goods going into that red basket—fewer goods that they're able to buy with their dollar. That is how Australians are living right now.

Do not underestimate how lived this reality is. More and more parents are going to supermarkets and having to put items back on the shelf. They're having to tell the person at the supermarket checkout that they can't afford the total bill, and they're having to take items out of their basket. I understand from some of the research that has been done that, increasingly, Australians are choosing to go through self-service checkouts because it's a way to maintain their dignity by not having to tell other people that they can't afford the full cost of the items in their basket.

This government's answer is hubris and arrogance, saying, 'Inflation is under control. You're all living in la-la land. We've got nothing to do with it,' despite the fact that it is pouring money into the economy and fuelling the inflation problem. They are pouring debt petrol onto the inflation fire, and Australians are having to live with higher inflation and higher interest rates. Those opposite are engaging in a form of denialism in this chamber and this parliament, and it's truly sickening. It shows they don't understand what they're doing. It's not just a matter of fiscal recklessness, though it is that; it's an active engagement in denial as they actively fuel inflation in this country.

You just need to look at the simple stats. Since the Albanese government was elected, insurance premiums have gone up 39 per cent; energy costs, up 38 per cent; rent, up 22 per cent; health insurance, up 18 per cent; education costs, up 17 per cent; and food costs, up 16 per cent. It's not just a problem for households, though that is very serious; it has a dramatic impact on small businesses, leading to the current small-business crisis. We've had record small-business insolvencies. Forty-one thousand small businesses have gone insolvent since the election of the Albanese government. Last year we had record small-business insolvencies, and we are currently on track to have a higher number of small-business insolvencies this year than we had last year.

At every point, all we've heard from this government is a denial that it has something to do with it, even though the Reserve Bank governor has made it explicitly clear that public expenditure directly contributes to private demand. Every time the government says, 'Oh, it's just private demand; it's got nothing to do with us,' it's actually the government pouring debt petrol onto the inflation fire. They're doing it through things like public sector employment, or indirect public sector employment. Eight out of 10 jobs are being created by direct and indirect public expenditure, while there's a complete crisis in private sector employment.

This denial is not the act of a responsible government. It is not the act of a government that understands what it's doing, and it's certainly not the act of a Treasurer who is in charge of his portfolio. To his credit, the Prime Minister has now turned around and betrayed the Treasurer, saying to his various ministers: 'You have to get spending out of your portfolios, because the government is now contributing to the inflation pressure that Australians are living.' The Prime Minister now has his thumb once again on the Treasurer, who simply seems unwilling or unable to act to do his job, both to keep inflation down and to drive the competitive reforms that Australia needs. But the people who are experiencing the consequences of this are the Australian people. They are living higher interest rates, higher inflation, higher rents and, of course, higher costs at the supermarket checkout, and they are going to continue to be punished until this government is honest with the Australian people that its solutions are actually the drivers of the problem.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The allotted time for this debate has expired.