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

My question is to the Treasurer. Treasurer, your government ignored my calls last term to halve the fuel excise to ease the cost of living for families and small businesses. Now, petrol and diesel are surging towards $3 a litre, yet, your government is still taking $27 billion in fuel excise from struggling Australians. Why won't you halve the excise to provide immediate relief and curb inflation, like the previous government did? Surely there's never been a more critical time to act.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the bulk of my answer, I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave to her colleague the member for Mayo. In addition, I point out, in acknowledging the very real cost-of-living pressures being felt in Fowler and indeed around the country, that the government is providing cost-of-living relief in a number of different ways to her local community. Sixty-five thousand taxpayers are getting a tax cut—actually, getting two more tax cuts because of this government. Those opposite voted against them and said they'd repeal them. About 8,000 people in her community are getting a boost to their superannuation. More than 23,000 people are getting student debt relief.

When it comes to the PBS co-payment reduction—more than $5.9 million in savings in her electorate alone across 416,000 scripts. The safety net reduction—$5.8 million in savings across 773,000 scripts. The Medicare urgent care clinic in Liverpool—I pay tribute to the health minister and the Prime Minister for delivering that. There are new bulk-billing clinics, including nine additional practices in the member for Fowler's electorate. We're providing cost-of-living help in other ways, and I've concluded my answer.