Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Yesterday, in a rare moment of honesty from the Albanese Labor government, the member for Forde confirmed Australians are worse off after four years of Labor, confirming: 'living standards have gone backwards in this country'. When will the Prime Minister show the same honesty and admit that his economic strategy has failed all Australians?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. Our budget was aimed, clearly, at providing tax cuts for people, together with the wage increase that happened at the beginning of this week. That is how you lift living standards: by people being paid more and keeping more of what they earn.

In addition to that, we are making a difference for people already, through the housing policies that we've put forward. Indeed, just last weekend, in the electorate of Dickson, Kathleen, a 65-year-old single mum from Arana Hills, who'd spent a year looking for a home and had been outbid, time and time again—this is what she said: 'It was really depressing to see a house you had your heart set on sell way over budget, only to reappear weeks later on the rental market.' But, last weekend, she finally got into her own home.

In Ballarat North, Mark Williams, an auctioneer, spoke about an auction of a Ballarat North home that drew more than 50 people to the auction last weekend but not one investor put their hand up. Mark Williams, the auctioneer, said this: 'All the interested parties were owner-occupiers.' The home was sold to a first home buyer in his 30s.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) | Link to this | Hansard source

Speaker—

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

No. Order! The Prime Minister will pause. I'm not taking the member's point of order. Resume your seat. The question was barely within order. You were reflecting on a member pretty grievously. So resume your seat. By saying of someone 'a rare moment of honesty'—it's a deep reflection on members, which is unparliamentary. I allowed the question. Order! Reflecting on members is unparliamentary. The Prime Minister will continue. It was a broad question.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

They're against first home buyers. But I'll continue to give some examples. In Newcastle, in Tighes Hill—

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

Order! The Prime Minister will return to the question.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

Jesse Wilton, the listing agent, said this: 'We had a first home buyer, a young family and a young couple bidding on it, and it went to the first home buyer.'

In Geelong it happened as well. Adam Natonewski, the selling agent, said this:

The first-home buyer did win it by a knife's edge at the end. They just threw an extra $500 bid on top, and were the eventual purchasers.

Guess what? If they were bidding versus an investor, the investor would know that they could go more than $500 more, because they'd have a taxpayer onside. That is the difference that it makes—the difference that we are already making to people getting an opportunity in life. The quote, of course—always worry about what they actually say, because the member for Forde's, who I was asked about, question was about the Liberals closing of the car industry. That is what his comment was about, because those opposite are against jobs, they're against living standards being improved, and they're against first home buyers.