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

I have received a letter from the honourable member for Goldstein proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

"The decline of Australia's living standards during the Government's cost of living crisis".

I call upon those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Shortly after question time, the Treasurer scurried out from the chamber. I can understand why, because, while he feels shame, Australians desperately need hope. They need hope for the future. They need ambition for our country. And they need economic leadership that is, sadly, missing right now.

You just need to look at the Treasurer and what his legacy has been. Do you remember when George Bush went onto the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared 'mission accomplished'? That's what the Treasurer did in saying that Australia had turned the inflation corner. That would certainly be news to millions of Australians who are living with the consequences of him continuing to pour debt petrol on the inflation fire.

If you listen to the government during question time, what you will hear is that Australians have never had it so good—'Australians are doing great; Australia is doing great.' Well, to be fair, some people are doing well. Organised crime is doing well. We have them using illegal tobacco as a pathway to profiteer, to undermine tax revenue and to finance terrorism. Organised crime is doing really well. Organised crime, through cartel kickbacks and public money given through the CFMEU Labor cartel, are doing really well.

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

Never done better.

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, they've never done better. Organised crime has never done better than under this government. So, yes, some people are doing well, but they are all the wrong people.

Australians, the mums and dads of this nation, are going to their local supermarket and they're putting items in their red basket or their trolley and increasingly they're not just checking the price, as they might always be if they're prudent and balancing a budget, but turning up to the checkout and getting through the price scanner and having to take things out of the basket or out of the trolley and put them back. That's because what this government is doing is not just inflating out the value of money. It doesn't just mean you get less when you go to the supermarket checkout. What this government is doing is inflating out Australians' dignity. This is the most despicable and disgraceful act that a government can do.

Then they come into this chamber and pretend like everything's rosy and that Australians are not doing it tough. Their only answer is: 'What we should do is issue more bonds. Let's get more debt and let's pour it on to the inflation fire. Let's let it rip.' They seem to have no understanding of what's driving inflation. The member for Kennedy whispered sweet nothings of inflation in my ear about what is happening during question time. The Treasurer has a form of delusion about the fact that private demand is being stoked by public demand. This has been explained by the Reserve Bank governor, but, according to this government, what would they know? They're continuing to spend and stoke expenditure every step of the way from the taxpayers' purse so that they can stoke private demand to hide an economic reality.

Australians' wages are going backwards, they're being outstripped by inflation and costs—

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

Costs are going through the roof.

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

are going through the roof. There you go! Costs are going through the roof—you're 100 per cent right, Member for Wannon. There's higher rents, higher insurance costs and higher costs at the supermarket. It doesn't matter where you go. And, of course, there's higher petrol costs as well. At every step we have a problem, and the government is in a form of denial.

But what we've seen this week is an active attempt to deliberately distract from what the Treasurer's legacy has been to date. He now talks about international factors, like inflation begins in Tehran, not in Canberra, like everything was rosy until Sunday. There's just one little problem. We're actually talking about the December quarter accounts, and I can assure you that wasn't a problem back in December.

Australians are doing it tough, and this government is contributing at every step of the way. The legacy is extremely clear. On a per capita basis, the Australian economy remains poorer than in March 2022. According to the latest figures from the OECD, Australia—let's just take a dramatic pause—has experienced the worst fall in living standards in the OECD. This is a disgrace. Australia has made no progress in living standards against the OECD average by 10 percentage points. They're down 10 percentage points. We have real wages falling—two per cent lower today than when Labor took office and falling right now. Remember when Labor members came into this chamber and talked about real wages moving? Remember that? I think they even did dances to that. I can assure you the Australian people aren't dancing to that tune anymore, because they know that inflation is outstripping their wages and they are going backwards. They feel it when they get their pay cheque. They feel it when they get to the supermarket checkout. They know just what they're getting less of. They know they're getting less for the value of their dollar.

The RBA expects real wages to continue to fall all year, to December 2026. I'm sure there'll be a reason that will be this side of the chamber's fault! I'm sure they'll have an excuse about why, four years out from government, somehow we are in a situation where we're responsible for that. When is the Prime Minister actually going to appoint a Treasurer who's going to take responsibility? I know he likes to ritually humiliate the Treasurer, whether it's rolling over unrealised capital gains or when he's got him out there floating new taxes and he'll force him to roll that over. When is the Prime Minister going to appoint a Treasurer who's going to take responsibility? Right now the Treasurer is out there socialising to increase taxes on the Australian people while they'll do nothing about the $15 billion that has gone to organised crime through the CFMEU Labor cartel. The idea that this Treasurer and this Prime Minister and this government are somehow going to tax Australians more because they couldn't be bothered following up public money going to organised crime through the CFMEU Labor cartel is the most bizarre expression and sentence I have ever had to give. But this is the lived reality of Australians under the Albanese government.

We had the national accounts. It was the December quarter, so it was after the election. They won that election, we will acknowledge that. In fact, they got a record majority, so you'd think they'd take a little bit of ownership in the process. But what did it show? It showed the second quarter in a row in which public sector demand growth outpaced private sector demand—0.9 per cent versus 0.4 per cent. That's why we have a small-business cost crisis. Think about all those Australians right now who have backed themselves in where they're self-employed in small businesses or family businesses, and their profitability margins are thinning and thinning and thinning. We know what has happened under this government: as they've thinned, eventually they've gotten to the point where they can't go on. When that happens, it isn't just the small business that goes, it's the livelihoods that go with it. That is what Australians in small business are living right now. That is why we have 41,000 small businesses that have collapsed under this government. I can tell you, the Albanese government's been betting on Australia failing—that's certainly true. They haven't just been betting on it, they've been delivering on it.

The Albanese government has overseen record small business insolvencies, and it was not just a record last financial year. I'm going to give you a hot tip, Deputy Speaker—they're on track to deliver another record this year. The idea that any Labor member could stand in this chamber and get up and defend their record when you have 41,000 livelihoods thrown to the trash heap, where you have record small-business insolvencies—at least 14,000 last financial year and 14,000 this year—real wages going backwards while costs soar into the horizon!

Australians know what this government is doing. Australians have woken up. They know that this government has no concern for their future. They are not taking the action needed to build a better Australia. But I want to finish where I started. Australians need hope, and there is a pathway to hope. We can have a coalition government that is focused on mobilising the economy, the ingenuity and the capital of this nation to build a better country for every Australian. We can build the homes Australians need. We can get wages up again. We can keep costs down. We can make energy cheaper. We can build a better future where the next generation of Australians clock their eyes to the horizon and think that this country is still an optimistic and proud nation. I can assure you, Deputy Speaker, for the next two and a bit years, we are going to fight for that, hell for leather, every single day.

Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I must say, the shadow Treasurer in his time in that role has made a real art form of the dramatic pause. But what follows doesn't justify that pause. It's a real anti-climax. When we look at what those opposite left us, it was a decade of shocking productivity growth—the worst decade of productivity growth that we had seen in this country for half a century. What we also saw was shocking real wages growth that was low by design. Senior members of those opposite's cabinet in that last period of government had conceded that that was what they were intending to deliver. So it is a bit rich for those opposite to come in here today and lecture anybody on the cost of living or economic management.

We know that there are many Australians who are doing it tough. We know that there are many families who are working hard and whose budgets are tight, and that global uncertainty does weigh on the Australian economy. That's why we have implemented so many supports for families and individuals throughout our time in government—supports that, over the last term and this term, those opposite have opposed every step of the way. Indeed, I might say—and I'll build on this during the contribution—that those opposite campaigned against so many of those supports at the last election. Those opposite campaigned to lift taxes on every Australian taxpayer. Those opposite campaigned for higher taxes, for higher deficits and for bigger debt.

When we look at the last national accounts—and I think that it's critical that we do so—what we see is that the economy is exhibiting strong, broad based growth. That includes ongoing recovery in the private sector. That includes 2.6 per cent growth annualised, which is the strongest in almost three years. These are very encouraging numbers that are a robust foundation from which we can confront intense global economic volatility, made worse by conflict that we are seeing overseas. I repeat: we know that there are many households who are doing it tough, and that's why we have all of the supports that we have put into place, but these numbers are welcome.

What I would also stress that we look at in the last national accounts is the fact that real per-capita disposable income rose by 0.6 per cent in the last quarter—2.0 per cent over the last year. This is a key measure of living standards for households. Again, the contrast with what those opposite left us couldn't be more stark. That measure went backwards 1.5 per cent in the quarter before this government came into office. Those opposite left us with real per-capita disposable household income going backwards. Now, it has grown at two per cent over the past year. If we look at where Australia stands in the world on that really critical measure, it's double the rate of growth of the G7. According to the last national accounts, the overall measure of growth is up by the highest rate in almost three years, and real per-capita disposable income is up at a rate that is very favourable globally compared to the average across the G7.

Again, when you look at the last election, those opposite went to the last election with an economic plan for higher taxes, for banning people from working from home, for greater deficits and for higher debt. In the shadow Treasurer's speech there were dramatic pauses followed by quite melodramatic rhetoric on a range of fronts. But let's look at what his contribution has been since taking office—or taking his role, rather. He's not taken office, fortunately! He has focused on attacking the dual mandate of the RBA. What would the result of that be? He specifically said that we should explore taking from the RBA its dual mandate of reducing inflation while seeking full employment and have it just focusing on the former. That would see more people thrown on the unemployment heap. This is something that the Australian people would be very interested to hear explained by those opposite. Is it really their policy now that the RBA should target inflation more aggressively and, in so doing, put more people on the unemployment heap? He said that we need to look at tax rates but focus on the top rate. So, the contributions from the shadow Treasurer to date, if they are an indication of where the opposition is going, are a matter of great concern to the average Australian household.

Let's look at their approach over the last four years compared to our approach. They talk a big game about the cost of living, but, whenever they have the chance to act, they vote against cost-of-living supports. On this side of the House, we want Australians to keep more of what they earn. We have already delivered tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer. We will be delivering more tax cuts in the upcoming budget, as per our election commitment, and in the budget after that. Those opposite opposed that. Those opposite campaigned at the last election to reverse those tax cuts.

We know how important universal health care is for quality of life. We know how important supports are in that area for people's cost-of-living relief. We have expanded bulk-billing support so that more people can see a GP for free. We have substantially increased funding for urgent care clinics. In my own electorate I've seen two urgent care clinics open, supplying healthcare services for those who need them most, with extended hours and with bulk-billing supplied support. This is something which is being rolled out right around the country. Those opposite opposed it. We've supported cheaper medicines. Again, that's something that was opposed by those opposite. Those opposite have attacked those supports at every chance. They are incredibly important supports for people who are doing it tough.

We know that getting people into a home that they own is absolutely critical. That's why we have provided support to more Australians through expanded access to the five per cent deposit scheme for first home buyers. What was their approach? As with every other cost-of-living support that I've mentioned, they opposed it.

That's not all the government's doing. We cut 20 per cent off student debt, helping graduates and students right across this country. We're making sure that more students get paid while they do their prac. It's a really critical cost-of-living support for many. If you're studying to be a nurse, a teacher, a social worker or a midwife, you can now get paid while you do your placement.

We've expanded paid parental leave to 24 weeks, with super now paid on that, improving both immediate family finances and long-term retirement outcomes. We've improved supports in superannuation on a range of fronts, including legislation passed in this chamber today, through LISTO supports, which would see hundreds of thousands of Australians get increased support to their super accounts. Those opposite voted against that earlier today. It's appalling.

Under Labor's new three-day guarantee, every child who needs it is eligible for three days of subsidised early learning each week, no matter what their parents do. This means that 100,000 more families are eligible for three days of subsidised early learning.

Again, an absolutely key element of standards of living, of our supports for those who need it most, is the fact that 1.2 million jobs have been created in this economy since we've come to office. Unemployment remains low by historical standards and workforce participation remains at near record highs. This is an economy that has, in the last national accounts, performed well on some key metrics of standards of living. Real per capita disposable income is up two per cent over the last year. I remind the House that it was down 1.5 per cent on the last reading when the Liberals were in office. That was after a decade of shocking productivity growth, a decade of low, sclerotic wage growth by design.

No-one on this side of the House is suggesting that everyone's doing it easy. No-one's putting the Mission Accomplished banner up. What we're saying is that there are some welcome overall numbers. There is some welcome growth. For those who are doing it tough, we will continue to provide supports. We will continue to support Medicare to roll out urgent care clinics. We're going to continue to deliver the tax cuts that we promised at the last election and that we delivered in the previous term, against opposition from those opposite. We won't take lectures from people who delivered such shocking outcomes when they were in government and who oppose every single support that we bring into this place.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Once again we have seen, during question time today, the Albanese Labor government failing to take responsibility for the pain people all around Australia are feeling due to the ever increasing cost-of-living pressures. Such is Labor's disconnect from real people in the real world. This government is forever playing with the numbers, switching them around for their own political gain, and that is a theme I will come back to. It is disgraceful and not lost on everyday mums and dads, who cannot escape their grocery bills, mortgage, rent payments, energy bills and now fuel bills, and the list goes on. People know that it is this incompetent government at work.

Under the watchful eye of the Treasurer, Australia has undergone the biggest fall in living standards anywhere in the developed world. Inflation is higher than any major advanced economy. It's higher than the USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, France and Japan. On this side of the House, we are committed to restoring Australians standard of living and protecting their way of life. Under Labor, electricity prices are up 32 per cent in the past year alone. Think about that—a third of your bill gone up again in one year. Energy is the economy. We are saying it over and over again because, if we don't understand it, then businesses can't thrive and homes can't keep their lights on, keep their gas heaters on and keep their air conditioners going.

Energy powers industry. It drives transport and makes small businesses not die—forty-one thousand under this government. When energy is affordable and reliable, living standards rise and societies prosper. Data consistently shows elevated energy costs create cascading effects, from immediate household strains to long-term growth impediments. After nearly four years in government, insurance is up 39 per cent, and that's before the hikes we are now hearing about due to the latest conflict in the Middle East. Some farmers are doing it so tough in my electorate from fires and floods that they are under-insuring their farms, which creates a 'higher risk business' environment.

Rents are up, health care is up, food costs are up—basically, whatever we talk about has gone up. Households have burnt through all the fat they might have had in their budgets, and they're cutting back on anything extra for their kids: music lessons, sport and any other extracurricular activities and going out for a meal, and that's if they can continue to service their mortgage or rental property at all. I did hear our previous Labor speaker speaking about child care. It's just tough if you happen to live in childcare deserts, which a lot of Mallee is. Under Labor, out-of-pocket childcare costs are up 11 per cent in the last year alone. But it gets worse.

Labor have added insult to injury in Mallee. We have childcare deserts. It's no more pronounced than in Boort, in the Loddon shire, and in Inglewood, which needs child care too, and I could name several other towns in my electorate. Some families are even travelling 200 kilometres a day to access child care. Victorian Labor promised to build a new child care in Wedderburn, in Loddon shire, in 2023. Please remember that year. But, then, the day before the May 2025 federal election, Labor's candidate for Mallee promised new $5 million funding for new child care in Loddon.

We learned this week, and Loddon Shire Council and residents are furious about this, that the $5 million wasn't for a new child care. It was for Wedderburn, which is as good as built already because it was promised in 2023 under the Victorian government. So it's just kind of like, 'Let us shovel it away, and let us pretend that didn't happen.' The residents of Loddon shire absolutely know it happened. This was a deliberate, dishonest repackaging of an existing promise designed to deceive regional families during an election campaign.

Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I start by saying how great it is to see more women than men on the opposition benches. It is a wonderful sight; I hope it long lives on. But, unfortunately for them, those on the other side are still at it again, talking Australia down. Let us talk about the facts of what has been brought to the chamber today. When this government came to office, we inherited an economy under real pressure. There were massive deficits, there was almost a trillion of Liberal debt, there was higher inflation, and real wages were going backwards. Living standards were already under strain because of the economic mess left behind.

Our task was clear: repair the economy, restore wage growth and provide cost-of-living relief in a responsible way that doesn't fuel inflation. The latest national accounts show that that approach is working. Australia's economy grew 2.6 per cent through the year, the strongest pace in almost three years and faster than every major advanced economy. The growth is being driven by the private sector, not unsustainable public spending. That matters because it means we can deliver cost-of-living relief responsibly while keeping inflation under control. In a world facing serious global uncertainty, Australia is approaching the future from a position of genuine economic strength.

But the statistics alone do not tell the whole story. We know that Australians are doing it tough, and that is why, each and every day since we have been in government, we have been working to ensure Australians are seeing improvements, and they are. Real disposable income per person has grown 2 per cent over the past year. Wages are rising again. Minimum and award wages have increased by more than $9,000 under Labor. Since we formed government, more than 1.2 million jobs have been created. Unemployment rates remain low and workforce participation is near record highs. This is a recovery built on people working, earning and participating.

We have delivered tax cuts for every taxpayer, with another round of relief on its way and further cuts already locked in for next year. These tax cuts increase take-home pay and help Australians manage cost-of-living pressures. We are also cutting the cost of essentials like health care so more Australians can see a GP for free. We've opened over 130 Medicare urgent care clinics, including two in my community of Bonner in recent months—the Carina-Carindale urgent care clinic and the Capalaba urgent care clinic, both servicing my community. Thousands of patients have already been through the doors. From 1 January, we delivered the next stage of our biggest cut to the cost of PBS medicines—$25 or less—making medicines the cheapest they have been in more than 20 years. We've cut student debt by 20 per cent. We've also raised the income threshold at which student debt repayments start to $67,000, giving graduates more breathing room. We've introduced paid prac for nursing, teaching, social work and midwifery students so people can train for essential professions without going backwards financially.

For families, we've expanded paid parental leave to 24 weeks and, through Labor's three-day guarantee, every child who needs it will be eligible for three days of subsidised early learning each week, meaning a hundred thousand more families can access affordable child care. And we're helping more Australians into their own homes with five per cent deposits for first home buyers. We're supporting housing apprentices with $10,000 bonuses. I'm running out of breath, because we've done so much. Cheaper home batteries are expected to support more than two million installations by 2030. Already in Bonner, over 1,800 batteries have been installed. These measures were not accidents; they were policies we took to the election and promised to deliver for all Australians, and we are delivering.

What would those opposite have done? We know that they made a commitment to cut 41,000 frontline workers. They would have cut student debt relief. They would have cut free TAFE. They would have cut Commonwealth prac payments. They would have cut cheaper home batteries. All of the measures I've talked about that we have delivered—they were intent on cutting them. I can just say that our approach is clear—strong economic management and practical cost-of-living relief. We are delivering for all Australians.

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party, Shadow Minister for Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Has anyone noticed the two things the government doesn't talk about? They don't talk about productivity, and they don't talk about inflation. They are the two topics that this government has absolutely avoided. The member across there, the member for Bonner, just mentioned a number. That number was 41,000. What do you think Australians might equate that number to? Well, I'm telling you now that it's 41,000 small and family businesses—incomes and livelihoods—that have gone broke since this government came to power. It's a disgraceful number, and the member for Bonner should think about that number that she just spruiked. That's 41,000 families who now do not have a small and family business. They've probably got mortgages that are attached to those businesses that have gone broke and they may have lost their homes as well. Who knows?

Under this government's watch, productivity and inflation are pushing living standards backwards for Australians by 10 per cent. After four years of this Albanese government, Australians have lived through a cost-of-living crisis, a cost-of-doing-business crisis and a household recession. Prices are up. Real wages are down. Australians are working harder for less. While government is getting bigger—much, much bigger—Australians' lives are simply not getting better.

On a per capita basis, our economy is poorer than it was in March 2022. We've gone backwards. According to the latest figures from the OECD, Australians experienced the largest collapse in living standards in the developed world. We have made no progress against the OECD average. We're still down 10 percentage points. That's not just bad luck; it's bad management. We have gone backwards under this government, and Australians know that. They feel it. They know it when they come out of a supermarket and they've only got half the amount in their bag that they had the last time they went shopping as inflation keeps pushing up prices. Real wages today are more than two per cent lower than when Labor took office. No wonder Australians are feeling poorer—because they simply are. The Reserve Bank expects real wages to continue falling through this year. Productivity, as I said, is down 4.7 per cent since Labor came to office. That's in four short years. This is our economic potential in freefall.

But what has grown? What is it that has grown? The government has grown. The latest national accounts show public sector demand growing twice as fast as the private sector—0.9 per cent versus 0.4 per cent in the December quarter. It's the second quarter in a row that government spending has outpaced the private economy. It's that spending into the economy that the government keep doing because they're addicted to spending your money that's pushing inflation up and making it hard for every Australian. Public demand is now at a record 29 per cent of GDP. The Treasurer says inflation has been driven by private demand. That claim is in tatters. Independent economists have made it clear that, when the government take up more room in the economy, which is what they're doing—remember those jobs numbers are bigger in the government—it leaves less space for families and small businesses, it pushes up inflation, it keeps interest rates higher for longer and it makes it harder for Australians to get ahead.

Inflation has risen again, to 3.8 per cent. But Labor says inflation has turned the corner. Labor says Australians are better off and life's never been better. Labor say they are not coming after more of your money. Australians know that, when Labor run out of money, they come after more of their money. Taxes are 37.3 per cent higher than when Labor came to office. Real household disposable income per capita is down 3.4 per cent. Nearly 1.9 million people have been added to the population in just four years, without the homes or the infrastructure or services to match. But Labor will blame increasing inflation on whatever it can. The conflict involving Iran is going to add further instability to global markets, for sure. But, even before that conflict began, inflation was rising, interest rates were rising and living standards were failing. Labor will make all kinds of excuses. They'll make any excuse under the sun. They'll blame anybody but themselves for their bad economic management.

Over here on this side we stand for lower, simpler, fairer taxes and tax reform that rewards work and hard effort. We stand for restoring control of our migration program, protecting our way of life and restoring our standard of living. (Time expired)

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know that many families across the north in my electorate of Spence are still feeling the pressure of rising prices and higher bills. The cost of groceries, rent, power and everyday essentials has climbed in recent years, and households are working hard just to keep up. That is why easing the cost-of-living pressure on Australian families remains our government's No. 1 priority. When costs rise, it is everyday households that feel it first, with families balancing budgets, working overtime and doing everything they can to get ahead.

Since coming to government in 2022, Labor has delivered practical cost-of-living relief for millions of Australians. A key part of that relief has been tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer. Across communities in the north, those tax cuts have meant an average of $1,217 back into household budgets. That is money that can help cover groceries, pay power bills or help families manage rising costs of mortgages or rent. In my electorate, around 74,000 taxpayers have benefited directly from these changes. In fact, 91 per cent of taxpayers in my community are better off under Labor's tax plan. This relief will continue, with another tax cut coming in July this year.

But tax relief is only one aspect of the support we are delivering. Rent assistance has been increased by 10 per cent, providing additional support for renters who need it most. We are also strengthening support for families welcoming a new child. Paid parental leave has been expanded to 24 weeks, giving parents more time at home during those critical early months of a child's life. And, for the first time, superannuation will now be paid with paid parental leave, improving both the immediate financial security of families and the long-term retirement outcomes of parents, particularly women, which has been sorely needed for far too long.

Child care has been made cheaper for more than one million Australian families, easing one of the biggest costs faced by working parents. Through Labor's new three-day childcare guarantee, families will have access to at least three days of subsidised early childhood education and care. This reform is already making a difference. I recently met a mother in the northern suburbs named Michelle, who told me the three-day childcare guarantee had been life-changing for her and her family. It allowed her to return to full-time work, support her household and provide opportunities for her children through early learning.

Energy costs are another major pressure point for households. That is why the Albanese Labor government has introduced the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, slashing the upfront cost of installing a home battery by around 30 per cent, helping families store the energy they generate, reduce reliance on the grid and bring down their electricity bills. In my electorate alone, more than 2,300 home batteries have already been installed. Families with rooftop solar and battery storage are expected to save around $1,100 on their power bills each year—that is real relief delivered directly to household budgets.

At the same time, we're tackling the underlying drivers of rising costs by investing in renewable energy to lower long-term power prices and supporting fair wage growth for low-income workers. We have also made medicines cheaper for millions of Australians. The cost of PBS prescriptions has been frozen at $7.70 for concession card holders, and capped at $25 for most other Australians, representing the largest cut to the price Australians pay for medicines in the history of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme—something I'm extremely proud of, and I know every member on this side is too.

Education and training is another area where we are easing pressure on household budgets while creating long-term opportunity. Free TAFE has been made permanent, opening the door to skills and training for thousands of Australians who want to retrain, upskill and change careers, and we have cut student debt by 20 per cent, delivering immediate relief for people carrying a HECS or HELP debt balance. In communities across my electorate of Spence, that reform has helped more than 19,000 people see their student debt reduced, taking a significant financial weight off their shoulders and helping them move forward with confidence.

Together these measures are delivering real support for real Australian households today, helping families to manage rising costs, to support their children and to plan for the future. Easing the cost of living is not about one policy or one announcement; it's about sustained action, practical relief and building an economy that works for everyday Australians. At the end of the day, the best measure to ease the burden on one's living standards might be to consider limiting Billy Joel covers in the chamber.

Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The fact is that living standards have not just gone backwards under this Labor government; they have collapsed. In four years of Labor, Australians are working harder for less, they are saving harder and keeping less, and they are paying more and getting less. I see this every day in my electorate of Monash. There's the mum outside Druin Coles who told me she had to choose between paying her electricity bill on time or buying groceries for her family that week. There's the young tradie in Wonthaggi who told me he was taking every overtime shift available and he still couldn't save enough for a home deposit. There's the small-business owner on Phillip Island who said she could barely break even because every input cost, from electricity to insurance, had skyrocketed over the last few years. There's the farmer outside Leongatha who shared with me his anxiety that Labor's superannuation changes would destroy his family succession plan because the land was worth more than what their business generated in value. Australia has experienced the largest collapse in living standards among all developed countries, across the OECD, and people in my electorate of Monash are living with the consequences of this every day.

The volunteers who roll up their sleeves to help those people who are really struggling are finding it more and more difficult as well, and I give the following examples. In Warragul, Frankies Community Kitchen cannot meet current demand at its local food relief centre. It's a sad reflection of the level of struggle felt in our community—the choices forced on families and on vulnerable and low-income residents when money is tight and meals are sacrificed. They started out cooking 600 meals per week, and that figure has tripled to more than 2,000 per week. But it's not enough, with a gap of around 3,000 meals every week across the region. Baw Baw Food Relief has seen a nine per cent increase in demand in the last 12 months, feeding 4,560 adults and 2,825 children. Phillip Island Community and Learning Centre has been forced to limit access to its food pantry three days a week because of the sheer number of families seeking to put food on the table. The wonderful volunteers at Corinella & District Community Centre say that it needs to be open an additional day just to keep up with growing demand, and it has to meet rising costs with a tight budget. Despite the installation of solar panels and a battery, Corinella centre has been forced to pay significantly higher electricity bills. These centres don't want to turn people away, but they can't escape the growing costs and pressure.

The standard of living has dropped under this Prime Minister, but so too has every standard under the government that he's running. A good recent example, this week, was when the Prime Minister attended the wedding of his good mate Kyle Sandilands. It's worth mentioning in the context of standards that this is a guy who got a 14-year-old girl on his radio show and quizzed her about her sexual experiences, and it turned out she had been raped. This is a guy who called a female journalist 'a fat slag', said Christians were dumb as dog excrement and said on air to a female journalist:

Watch your mouth, girl, or I will hunt you down.

He said of comedian Magda Szubanski, who is of Polish descent, that she would lose more weight if she were in a concentration camp. Journalist Jacqueline Maley has put a number of examples together in the Sydney Morning Herald this week, and I think they are worth mentioning in the context of standards under this Prime Minister, because the standard that we walk past is the standard that we choose to accept. This is a prime minister who chose to associate his office with Kyle Sandilands by attending his wedding. What a guy.

So, when we're talking about standards in Australia that have fallen off a cliff under this Prime Minister, it is not just economics that have fallen off a cliff; it is everything from economics to values. I think the Prime Minister's choice to associate himself and his office with Kyle Sandilands is worth mentioning and worth highlighting. It is a disgrace for the government and the Prime Minister, bearing in mind the message that this sends to young women and girls across this country.

Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to address the motion concerning the decline in Australia's living standards due to what the opposition repeatedly describes as a cost-of-living crisis. Let us begin with a simple proposition. Every government is ultimately judged not by the slogan it repeats but by how it manages the moments when circumstances become difficult—not mugs for mugs, anyway. Economic shocks, global instability and sudden price pressures test a nation's institutions. They test governments most of all. The question before this House is therefore not whether Australians have faced cost-of-living pressures; they clearly have. The question is: which side of politics has demonstrated the competence, discipline and seriousness required to manage those pressures responsibly?

The cost-of-living pressures that Australians have experienced did not arise in isolation. They followed the most significant economic disruption in generations, a pandemic, supply chain breakdowns, energy price shocks and a surge in global inflation. Every advanced economy confronted the same pressures.

Inflation has surged across Europe, North America and Asia. Energy prices have spiked. Housing markets have tightened, supply chains have fractured. In short, the entire global economy has been under strain. Responsible governments recognised this reality and acted carefully to stabilise their economies while protecting households. The Albanese government approached this challenge with a simple principle: economic stability first, targeted relief second. That approach required discipline. It meant repairing the budget rather than reckless promises. It meant providing cost-of-living relief that did not fuel inflation further. It meant strengthening structural foundations of the economy. As a result, Australia's inflation is lower than when we came to office.

Wages have been growing and employment remains historically strong. That outcome was not accidental. It was the result of careful economic management. The government has also provided direct relief where it has mattered most. Apprentices have been supported with $10,000 bonuses to help build the homes we need. That includes electricians, plumbers and bricklayers. Cheaper medicines have reduced the cost of essential prescriptions, student debt has been reduced through reforms to indexation, we've introduced paid prac to nursing and teaching students, and tax cuts have been delivered to every taxpayer. Each of these measures was targeted. Each was designed to ease pressure without destabilising the broader economy.

The opposition invites the House to believe they would have somehow managed these challenges better, yet their own record demonstrates the opposite. When faced with economic pressure, the Liberal Party has consistently prioritised short-term politics over long-term stability. During their time in government, wages stagnated. Real wages went backwards for years. They never put in any claims to increase the wages of Australia's lowest paid on the awards, and productivity slowed. Budget discipline deteriorated despite repeated promises for stronger fiscal management. And when crisis emerged, the response was often chaotic or delayed.

Crisis management in government is not about rhetoric; it is about making difficult decisions with long-term consequences in mind. It requires steady leadership, it requires responsible fiscal policy, and it requires an understanding that wellbeing of households ultimately depends on stability of the broader economy. The Albanese government has demonstrated that discipline. It has stabilised inflation while maintaining strong employment. It has delivered relief while repairing the budget, and it has done so without compromising the long-term health of the economy. Ultimately, living standards are determined more than short-term price pressures. They depend on wages growth. They depend on secure employment. They depend on investment in skills, infrastructure and productivity. This government is investing in apprenticeships, training, and industry capability to strengthen Australia's economic foundations, because sustainable living standards come from a stronger economy, not from political slogans.

Economic crises revealed the difference between careful governance and a reckless opposition. That is why, when it comes to managing crises and protecting the living standards of Australians, Labor's record speaks for itself.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This matter of public importance is the decline of Australia's living standards during the government's cost-of-living crisis, moved by the member for Goldstein, the shadow Treasurer. It is a matter of public importance and not, essentially, a matter of political importance. There's a big difference, because the public are hurting. They are suffering. Whether they're in the gallery or whether they're the parents of the schoolchildren above, they are really doing it tough at the moment. We all know that. I'm sure we all go into our own electorates and we talk—more importantly, perhaps some of us even listen—to the small-business owners and operators and family owned businesses. I'm sure we talk to everyday mums and dads who are struggling with balancing household budgets. I'm sure some of us from regional areas even go as far as talking to farmers and listening to farmers, because they too are struggling. It is really important that we restore our standard of living. It is really important that we protect our way of life. Unfortunately, as parliamentarians—and certainly as the government—it's not happening at the moment.

What is the Labor Party's solution to this? Well, they want to put in more politicians—not better politicians. There is a move that Special Minister of State Senator Don Farrell is considering at the moment to increase the House of Representatives by as many as 24, possibly 28, seats, and the Senate from 12 additional seats to as many as 14 additional seats. That is, in one option, 42 more parliamentarians. We don't need more politicians. We need better politicians, we need better policies, and we simply are not getting that at the moment.

Whilst I appreciate that Labor, as a political endeavour, will talk about yesterday's national accounts figures, they also show—the facts are there—that productivity is in freefall. It's dropped 4.7 per cent on Labor's watch. But what has gone up is the numbers of small businesses which have gone to the wall—more than 40,000 of them. That's not just them closing their doors—that level is about a thousand per day. That is actually them going bankrupt. That is so, so sad. That is terrible, because we know, or we should know, that small business is the backbone of the economy.

Population—we've got 1.9 million more people since Labor came to office. What we really need to do is have a good look at migration. We also need to have a really good look at where we're going to put all of these people who are flooding into our country, because we do have a housing crisis. I know Labor's talking about building 1.2 million more homes—again, good luck with that endeavour. Yes, they are needed, but when we've got the construction industry in freefall at the moment, it's going to be a tough ask.

Speaking of sectors which are in freefall, the trucking industry is doing it very, very tough at the moment. I spoke earlier today to Craig Forsyth, originally from Casino. He's got the Truckin' Life magazine. He will tell you the story about sham contracting, and that is something that I think this government really needs to address. We need a bipartisan summit. Get the unions involved. Get the industry involved. The industry has the solutions. Get the truckies involved.

Honourable Member:

An honourable member interjecting—

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Don't interrupt. I didn't interrupt you. We need to get people involved who understand the industry. When you've got companies in Wagga Wagga such as Ron Crouch Transport, and when you've got Don Watson Transport—which is a company that has moved refrigerated stock around our country for 70 years—going to the wall, there is something really wrong. There is something palpably wrong with what's happening, and it's happening on Labor's watch. We need to look at the construction industry. We need to look at the trucking sector. We need to really protect and help small businesses, and it's not happening at the moment. Our standards have dropped.

And what's Labor's answer? 'I just want to put more people on the green seats and more people on the red seats.' No, we don't need more parliamentarians. What we need is better policy. What we need is better parliamentarians. What we need is a government which is listening. What we need is a government which is caring. What we need is a government which is acting on the falling living standards of Australians right across this wide, brown land. It's not happening at the moment.

Sarah Witty (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians do know that the cost of living has been tough. Families feel it when they pay the bills, when they buy groceries or when they line up at the pharmacy counter. But Australians also understand something else. They understand that living standards are not shaped by slogans in this chamber; they are shaped by the economic choices governments make. The reality is this: many of the pressures Australians face today were years in the making.

For a decade, those opposite were in government. For a decade, real wages went backwards. For a decade, housing supply stagnated. For a decade, bulk-billing declined. For a decade, they watched pressure building across household budgets, while racking up almost $1 trillion of debt and leaving Australians with falling real wages and living standards. Australians remember that decade, and they remember who was in charge.

The Albanese Labor government is taking a very different approach. We recognise the pressure Australians are under, and we are acting to relieve it. We are delivering cost-of-living relief, we are strengthening the economy at the same time and the results are clear. Strong economic management means we can provide cost-of-living relief without adding to inflation.

Nothing hits the household budget faster than the cost of staying healthy. No Australian should stand at a pharmacy counter wondering whether they can afford to pay for the medicine they need. That is why—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's time. I apologise.