Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my electorate of La Trobe, residents are doing it really tough, with a 40c increase to fuel. I know this is occurring right across the country, but the cost of living under Labor has been very bad, particularly when it comes to inflation. Domestic inflation is running at 4.9 per cent, showing that pressure is really going hard on all Australians. Inflation in Australia is now higher than in major advanced economies. It's higher than the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan. That is why interest rates have gone up again, and we expect that to occur again in the future, which is going to be very tough, especially for my electorate of La Trobe.

For nearly four years, the government has been spending at record levels outside of a recession. The government's debt is racing towards $1 trillion. Australians are paying around an incredible $50,000 every minute to service that debt. Families are feeling the impact everywhere. Electricity is up by 32 per cent from last year. Insurance is up 39 per cent. Energy is up 38 per cent. Rents are up 22 per cent. Health is up 18 per cent. Education is up 17 per cent. Food is up 16 per cent. It is very tough for all Australians, and the Labor government must be condemned for failing to act on inflation.