Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're four years into the Albanese government, and all we've had is a litany of broken promises. We've had higher taxes, more debt, a higher cost of living and a whole range of antibusiness policies. Before the 2022 election, this prime minister promised to restore faith in politics and deliver on every one of his promises. Instead, his promise to keep his promises has even been broken many times. Where is the $275 reduction in electricity prices we were promised? Where are the cheaper mortgages? Where is the real wage growth? What happened to the promise of no new taxes, no changes to super and no tampering with the coalition's legislated tax cuts? What happened to not changing capital gains or negative gearing? So much for no-one being held back and no-one being left behind—this government penalises working Aussies and stokes class and intergenerational warfare.

Labor said it wouldn't introduce a death tax, yet this new 30 per cent tax on discretionary trusts is exactly that. This prime minister said that his word was his bond, and it's just turned out that his word is not worth a pinch of shit.

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

Withdraw that final comment.

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

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

I remind the House of the standing orders, which are very clear about the way in which debate is conducted in this House. I'll have no more of it.

Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my first 90-second statement to this House, I want to address some of the pain that our communities feel at the moment. We all know it. Every single member of this House who goes out into the community sees people struggling. It's confronting.

There are two things that the Prime Minister said recently that I think really define how this government is tackling that. One is that his philosophy is that nobody is left behind and nobody is held back. The second thing is about when you're confronted with an unfair system. He said you can't just throw your hands up in the air and say, 'There's nothing I can do about it; I'm only the Prime Minister.' I think that those two statements really underlie the government's strategy, which is to place government back at the central point of the economy to make sure that we run an economy that is for the people and that works for the people.

There are two things. Look at the government intervening directly to save our critical industries and our critical manufacturing industries, like our smelters in Port Pirie and in Gladstone and our steelworks in Whyalla. I think it really sums up the government's commitment to getting itself back in that central role of government. But also look at the approach to public housing. Undertaking the biggest public housing build in a generation, I think, underlies the fact that there is a role for government and that people feel disconnected because the government has been disconnected from them.