Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister keeps telling Australians he's very positive about the economy and that his government is doing the lot on the cost of living. If doing the lot means delivering lower living standards, more debt and higher inflation then Labor would be telling the truth, but they aren't even doing that. It's all smoke and mirrors from this 'nothing to see here' Labor government—nothing to see in Australian families not being able to afford a home, nothing to see in Australian families being forced to the financial brink. This is a government that sees no evil. People are afraid. They are telling us they have nothing left and they feel trapped, but Labor hears no evil. When the Prime Minister stands here and says he's very positive when he insists his government is doing the lot while Australians endure the worst collapse in living standards in the developed world, that is speak no evil—refusing to speak the truth.

This is not just a cost-of-living crisis; it is a crisis of confidence, of aspiration, of the Australian dream, and still nothing to see here. Edmund Burke warned that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. The opposition will not do nothing. We will not look away. We will not pretend Australians have never had it so good when they are going backwards. We see the pressure, we hear the warnings and we are standing up for Australians while the government does the lot in sending our great nation backwards.