Milton Dick (Speaker) | 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 Government's deliberate stoking of inflation, leaving Australian families to pay more at the supermarket.

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) | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians around the country are wondering why it is they're going to the supermarket, swiping things into their trolley or their basket, and seem to always be paying more and getting less. We know why that's happened. It's because the Albanese government has an active inflation agenda that enables them to go on and make sure they take more out of the hip pockets of Australians by stealth—exactly as the Leader of the Opposition has correctly said—through forms of taxation. Australians are living right now with the consequences of an active inflation agenda from the Albanese government. You just need to look at the numbers. Eggs are up 36.5 per cent. Australians needing protein to be able to live and to support themselves and their families, and some of the cheapest ways are facing a more-than-a-third increase in the cost. Milk, a primary staple of so many kitchens around the country, is up 29.7 per cent. Bread is up 22.7 per cent, and food overall—one of those essential things that people need to live—has gone up 18.1% under the Albanese government.

This is established very clearly in the inflation data. I made the point yesterday that it was census day, so it was a good time to be able to compare what the underlying inflation rate was the last time we had a census. In August 2021, it was 2.1 per cent—barely in, I do acknowledge, the target band of the Reserve Bank—but it was on the lower side under a coalition government. Let's fast forward to yesterday and ask what the underlying inflation was on this census day. It was above the target band at 3.6 per cent.

I heard the Prime Minister come into the parliament yesterday and somehow run around thinking he can make funny comments about the fact that interest rates have been lower in the past. They have been, Deputy Speaker. In fact, you just need to go back to 2020, when some of us were concerned about how low they were. They were 0.1 per cent. He thought it was such a killer point to observe that. Since then they've gone up 4,350 per cent. This government run around boasting about their incredible economic management while Australians are getting poorer, real wages are going backwards, small businesses have record low confidence, households and consumers have record low confidence and we've had record small-business insolvencies. They have the temerity, the hubris and the arrogance to come into this chamber and talk about their superior economic management.

This is a government completely adrift. They like to blame international conflicts for their persistent inflation problem, ignoring the fact that the Reserve Bank increased interest rates at the start of the year off the back of data from last year before a single bomb was dropped in Tehran. It has persisted during the on-and-off-again conflict and of course continues to rise up as a consequence of domestic factors. This is now abundantly clear to everybody except the smokescreen that manages to stop members of the Labor government from understanding the consequences of their economic agenda—to stoke inflation, to tax inflation—so they can then spend the inflation.

As the Leader of the Opposition correctly points out, this is not some accident of incompetence. It's deliberate, and it's an economic model designed to feed the Labor Party and the government not the Australian people. What we have is too much money chasing too few goods. What we have is a problem of government spending. It's not government spending that's improving the lifestyles and dignity of Australians. It's spending that has gone towards corruption—corruption that feeds the Labor Party ecosystem, corruption that has gone towards feeding fraud in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, corruption where the Prime Minister and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government has got out the taxpayer chequebook and written it out to projects in Victoria to go on and be fed to the CFMEU and to organised crime. Yes, corruption is inflationary too.

Of course, we've seen replicas of what happened in the NDIS, in the aged-care system and in child care. It's not something that needs to be referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, because it's deliberate. It's designed and backed into the legislation that this government introduces into the parliament and into the decisions it makes. But Australians are paying the price for this.

We've had 15 interest rate rises under this government while Australians have been looking at their balance sheets and saying, 'Can I afford anything more when we're already financially drowning?' Yesterday, following the release of the Statement on monetary policyafter the decision of the Reserve Bank to hold interest rates, a journalist simply said: 'At the last meeting, you didn't even think about an interest rate rise. But at this one you're saying the only debate was whether to hold interest rates or increase them.' The Reserve Bank governor has confirmed that they are still looking at further interest rate rises and that 15 may not be the end.

What we have is a government, through its active inflation agenda, that is playing a game of chicken with the Reserve Bank, seeing whether ongoing spending, handing over money and doling out cheques to corrupt interests will lead to further interest rate rises. They're daring the Reserve Bank of Australia to continue to increase interest rates. I think this is one of the problems with this government and, particularly, this prime minister. He's forgotten where he came from. He's lost empathy or understanding about what this means for people in places like public housing. He's forgotten what the impact of his policies is on young Australians who are aspiring to do better than their parents. Instead, we've seen—and we saw this in the budget—housing commission mums that save what little they have and put it in things like term deposits. He's come along and said, 'That's not yours; that's mine.' This is the problem. The government have lost sight of the consequences of their agenda and, more importantly, who they are and who they're there to serve. What we've seen is an export of the corrupt Victorian model under Dan Andrews. It's been brought to Canberra under this prime minister.

They stoke inflation, and we know where this ends; the numbers speak for themselves. In Victoria now, business confidence and consumer confidence are so low that one in 10 jobs is created by private investment. The rest come from direct and indirect public expenditure. Not to be outdone—

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) | Link to this | Hansard source

It's more like socialism.

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

Well, it's not even socialism, Leader of the Opposition, though it is that. It actively stokes inflation and makes Australians poorer because it does not attract the investment to grow the economy and to actually enlarge the pie. It turns Australians against each other, feeds social division and eats into young Australians' equity and opportunity and the hope and aspiration that they have for their future.

Not to be outdone, the Albanese government has achieved two in 10 jobs being created by private investment and eight in 10 being created by public direct and indirect expenditure. This is the export of the corrupt Dan Andrews model, brought to Canberra by the Prime Minister, and Australians will become poorer every step of the way because it stokes inflation—it feeds inflation—and that means higher interest rate rises for anyone who is just simply trying to get ahead.

What Australians need now, more than ever, is a sense of hope. Australians, particularly households and small businesses, need to be able to look to the horizon and believe that things can get better. But there will be no good economic news while the Albanese government stays in charge. We need a change of government and, in particular, we need our plan, which has things like the tax-back guarantee to back Australians and make sure that inflation is not the silent tax thief in the night, where the Treasurer can just rely on inflation to slowly increase the revenue that he gets to monopolise and spend. What we need is a government that understands that the strength of this country comes from families, households, communities and small businesses that are strong and confident and that believe in a better future.

Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury) | Link to this | Hansard source

Nine years of the former coalition government left Australia with too much market power and too little consumer power. I could not be happier than to be debating the shadow treasurer on this MPI about which side of this House stands up for consumers against the power of oversized corporations.

I will take the House back to what the situation was in 2022. When we came to office, competition and consumer penalties were too low. They were being treated by firms as a cost of doing business. The maximum dollar penalty was $10 million, a 10th of what that figure is today. When we came to office, the former government had left payday lending reforms on the shelf. They'd accepted recommendations from a review back in 2016 and released exposure draft legislation the next year, but by 2022 they hadn't done a thing on payday lending reforms.

The former government fought the banking royal commission for ages. Throughout 2016 and most of 2017 they were fighting the banking royal commission, and they only agreed to have the banking royal commission when the banks themselves called for it. It was the four major banks that called for a banking royal commission before the then coalition government. Of course, that banking royal commission found widespread misconduct across banking, insurance and financial advice, making 76 recommendations.

Under the former government we saw buy now, pay later explode outside credit regulations. Providers didn't need a credit licence or to comply with responsible banking obligations. Under the coalition it was buy now, regulate later. They didn't stand up for consumers.

Under the former government, when we came to office, unfair contract terms were legal. Courts could declare them invalid, but there was no offence on a firm that put an unfair contract term in a standard form contract, and that meant small business was getting hurt.

Under the former government, they failed to revive national competition policy. They commissioned the Harper review, and in 2015 it called for a revitalisation of national competition policy, but those opposite—big on reviews, small on reform—did nothing to work with the states and territories on competition reform.

Under the former government, they failed to tackle growing market concentration. We know now that market concentration and mark-ups rose steadily during their time in office, with competitive pressures decreasing in sectors like supermarkets, banking, aviation and digital platforms. The coalition failed to tackle the issue of growing market concentration.

While those opposite, particularly those in the National Party, say that they stand up for farmers, they failed to do so in their dealings with the big supermarkets. They put in place a toothless voluntary code of conduct in the food and grocery code, and then they reviewed it, with the member for Maranoa as their agriculture minister, and they decided to keep it—a toothless voluntary code. And it remained toothless throughout the coalition's time in office, despite repeated calls from the farmers, from growers to get a fair deal in their dealings with the major supermarkets.

By the time we came to office, those opposite had rejected merger reform. Rod Sims's major speech in August 2021 called for merger reform, and it took just a matter of hours for then treasurer Frydenberg to rule it out. The ACCC sounded the alarm; the Liberals pressed the snooze button. They didn't believe that we needed to do merger reform. They didn't believe in the kind of merger reform that would speed up approvals for the low-risk mergers and focus more scrutiny on the high-risk mergers.

And those opposite failed to ban unfair trading practices, including subscription traps. We had a report from the ACCC back in 2019. The ACCC had been warning about subscription traps since at least 2016. But, despite repeated ACCC advocacy, the coalition left office without doing a thing on unfair trading practices, subscription traps and drip pricing.

Since Labor took office in 2022, we have put in place the biggest suite of competition and consumer reforms that Australia has seen. We've overhauled our merger laws—merger reform had been necessary for half a century—getting rid of that largely voluntary system and replacing it with mandatory notification and an ACCC led administrative regime. That sees greater focus on the areas where the ACCC needs it, and it was supported by business because it allows those low-risk mergers to go through more rapidly. Previously, the ACCC wasn't even seeing three out of four mergers. Now it's seeing the mergers it needs to see and stopping the mergers it needs to stop.

Under us we've revitalised national competition policy, working with states and territories, whether they be Labor run or coalition run, on a new reform agenda, including regulatory reform and measures to strengthen the single national market. That's good for workers that need to work across state borders. It's important for getting planning and zoning reform. It's vital that the states and territories work together on the kinds of competition reforms that turbocharged productivity in the 1990s and have been foreshadowed to boost household incomes by up to $5,000 a household if we get them right.

We're banning non-compete clauses for most workers. From January next year, workers who are below the high-income threshold—currently $190,000—will no longer be able to see non-compete clauses in their employment agreements. That means workers will have the freedom to move to a better job. Those opposite claim they stand for freedom, but it takes a Labor government to give workers the freedom to take up an offer for a better job as well as to crack down on wage fixing and no-poach agreements. Getting rid of non-compete clauses puts money back in the pockets of workers. Those workers who are subject to a non-compete clause earn less, are less likely to innovate and are less likely to encourage new firm creation. You need workers to move if you're going to start up a new firm in a full employment economy.

Under Labor, we're putting in place supermarket competition reforms. We not only made the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct mandatory so farmers get a fair deal but also raised the penalties to $100 million for competition and consumer misconduct in the supermarket sector and across the economy. We've banned price gouging, we're strengthening unit pricing and we're tackling shrinkflation. Putting in place that ban on price gouging is something that those opposite didn't have the gumption to do. It takes a Labor government to make clear with large supermarkets that they can't charge prices that are excessive relative to supply costs plus a reasonable margin.

We have overseen the introduction of right to repair in the automotive sector, supporting independent mechanics, and we're now building on the motor vehicle information sharing scheme to make sure we've got independent repairers able to fix agricultural machinery. It's another reform strongly supported by the National Farmers' Federation but which it takes a Labor government, not a National-Liberal government, to deliver.

In the area of consumer protections, we've made unfair contract terms illegal, not simply allowing courts to void them but putting in place substantial penalties for businesses that are using them. We are regulating buy now, pay later as credit, bringing buy-now pay-later providers into the consumer credit framework, including the licensing and the responsible lending requirements. That massive increase to penalties doesn't just apply to firms that are breaching competition laws but also applies to firms that are doing the wrong thing by consumers.

We've banned unfair trading practices, including taking specific action against subscription traps and drip pricing, which will take effect from the middle of next year. It passed in the last sittings of parliament. We've got a scams protection framework that imposes stronger obligations on banks, telcos and digital platforms. We've created stronger aviation consumer protections, including the new Aviation Consumer Protection Authority. We're strengthening consumer guarantees and product safety, including stronger supplier accountability and reforms dealing with product safety risks such as e-mobility devices.

Only Labor is the party of competition. Only Labor is the party of consumers. Only Labor will stand up for the kinds of reforms that boost dynamism, put downward pressure on prices and help Australian households.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy) | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker, you should always listen to the speeches of the minister opposite, because sometimes it's not about what they say but what they choose not to say. In that 10 minutes, the minister chose not to defend or mention the disastrous budget handed down by the Treasurer. He didn't want to talk about those changes, although he did talk about competition and he did talk about dynamism.

So let's talk about the tech sector. The tech sector is fundamental to driving competition in this country. The tech sector is fundamental to creating start-ups and creating competition in this country. However, the budget changes passed by this government will cripple the tech sector. And don't just take don't take my word for it.

Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury) | Link to this | Hansard source

What does the Tech Council say?

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy) | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister asks, 'What does the Tech Council say?' Thank you for that, Minister. I was about to quote from the Tech Council—perfect. The Tech Council, talking about the innovative business CGT concession, said:

As proposed, however, the IBCC would leave Australia a less attractive place to start, fund and grow a technology company.

The minister walks out of the chamber. He clearly doesn't want to hear from the Tech Council. It wasn't a great interjection, champ.

Who else signed that statement? It was the Tech Council of Australia, Robotics Australia Group, EduGrowth, FinTech Australia, Aussie Angels, Climate Tech Australia, the Medical Technology Association of Australia, AusBiotech, (Energy)Lab, Australian Agritech Association, Stone & Chalk and Startmate. They all signed that statement confirming that the tax changes proposed by this government will cripple the tech sector in Australia. Again, we have a minister in this government who is not across their brief, asking for a quote from the Tech Council. He didn't like what he heard, and then he walked out.

Many others have criticised the budget changes. The member for Sturt has provided commentary on those changes. Now, the government wouldn't let us table the member's letter. They were embarrassed by their own member's words. But the member for Sturt did say—and I'm going to quote from the member's email to her constituent:

I have had difficulty coming to terms with the extension of these changes to other asset classes, for the specific reason you identify.

I agree with your concerns.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) | Link to this | Hansard source

A little bit of honesty.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy) | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, a little bit of honesty. The member for Parramatta is always smart enough to never put it in email, but he did speak in the media about how he had concerns about the budget changes. The member for Bennelong has also spoken about his concerns. They were a little bit more cryptic in their criticism. They've been around a little bit longer.

What concerns does the member for Sturt have such that she agrees with her constituent? Well, let me quote from Mr Cooper:

I think the government spends more than they need to because it helps keep them in power. They may need the money but I'm not sure this is the way to do it. I think if they are going to do tax changes, they should have taken it to an election in the same way John Howard took the GST to an election.

So the member for Sturt agrees that the Prime Minister broke his word, he misled the Australian people and he should have taken these changes to an election. While I admire the courage of the member for Sturt, I do fear for her career options, because we know what this Prime Minister does to those who dare question him. He is very vindictive. He runs the facade of unity. He forces unity. But, as they say, he protests too much. We know that quietly behind that there is a group that aren't happy.

The member for Brisbane has told her constituents that she will raise this matter with the Treasurer when she's next in Canberra for parliament, referring to the tax changes. I wonder how that conversation went. She wasn't prepared to defend the changes to the constituents. She said she'd have a conversation with the Treasurer. We know that the Treasurer, as he said today, doesn't listen or doesn't care about the backbench.

Another MP—and this MP didn't want to be named; they had a bit of sense—said a 'group of Labor politicians' were calling for further changes after hearing complaints from self-funded retirees, young people who are investing in shares to save for a home deposit and younger women who may have had time out of the workforce. These budget changes are a disaster, all overseen by this Treasurer. Those on the Labor backbench know it. They were prepared to vote for it, and it cost their own communities.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Aussies don't need anyone in this parliament telling them the weekly shop costs too much; they already know it. Families across the Hunter know it every time they walk into Coles or Woolies. They know it when they buy meat, fruit and veggies, school lunches and the basics for dinner. The pressure is real and some people are angry, and they've got every right to expect their government to act. That's what we've done.

From 1 July 2026, very large supermarkets have been banned from charging prices that are far too high compared to their costs and a reasonable profit margin. If they break the law, the penalties are very serious—up to $10 million, three times the benefit they got from breaking the law or 10 per cent of their yearly turnover. That's action. We've also made the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct mandatory. We've also given the ACCC more power. We've increased maximum penalties for serious breaches of competition and consumer law from $10 million to $100 million. We're strengthening unit pricing, we're cracking down on shrinkflation, we're funding choice to compare supermarket prices and we're acting on the recommendations of the ACCC supermarket inquiry. That's the record.

Let's look at those opposite. They love to come into this House and make a lot of noise about grocery prices. They act angry, they point fingers and they tell Aussies they're on their side. But where was their concern when they were in government? Where was the action then? When they had the chance to make the food and grocery code mandatory, they left it voluntary—a toothless tiger. They had the power, they had the time, but they didn't do it. Yes, they put forward their own plan for a mandatory code, but that doesn't wipe away their record. It doesn't wipe away the years they failed to act. I've got a question for those opposite: if these tougher rules are so important now, why didn't you bring them in when you were in charge? If stronger penalties matter so much now, why did you wait? If supermarket competition matters so much now, where were you before?

This is the problem with the opposition. They're always very brave after the decision's been made. They're always very loud after somebody else has done all the work. They are always ready to complain—not so ready to act, though. We see the same thing again and again. They voted against our tax cuts, they opposed Help to Buy—and then they lecture everyone else about household budgets. Give us a break! You can't vote against help for Australians and then pretend you're the only one who cares about cost of living. You can't spend years doing too little on supermarket power, then turn up later pretending you're leading the fight. People can see straight through it. People in Cessnock see through it. People in Singleton see through it. Families across Lake Macquarie in the Hunter can see straight through this—and I'll keep reminding of them of that record. This isn't about who can shout the loudest; it's about what you actually do. It's about how you actually vote. It's about whether you stand up when it counts.

Families want less pressure on their budgets. Farmers want a fair price. Small suppliers just want a fair go. Shoppers want to know they're not being ripped off blind. And the biggest supermarkets need to know there are consequences for when they break the rules. That's what government is meant to do. Are families are still under pressure? Of course they are. No-one on this side is pretending everything is fixed. People are still counting every dollar, still checking every price and still making hard choices at the checkout. But there's a big difference between trying to fix the problem and dog whistling about it. There's a difference between action and barking out noise. There's a difference between doing work and standing on the sidelines and simply complaining.

We'll keep backing the ACCC, we'll keep pushing for stronger competition and we'll stand up for farmers and suppliers. We'll keep working to give shoppers a fairer deal. And every time those opposite stand up and start shouting, Aussies should ask them three questions: 'What did you do when you were in government? How did you vote when it mattered on cost-of-living relief? And what are you actually offering now?' Aussies deserve more than angry speeches; they deserve action, they deserve stronger rules, they deserve real penalties and they deserve a government that is prepared to do the work—not just sit on the sidelines and complain time after time again, as those opposite have done ever since we've been in government. That's what we're doing, and that's what we'll keep doing.

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

I'm very pleased to rise to speak on this matter, because—having spent the last four or five weeks in my electorate, speaking with people in the Latrobe Valley, Bass Coast, South Gippsland and West Gippsland—one thing's clear: Australians have never worked harder for less and faced more challenges than they do right now.

It's been interesting to listen to the shopping list of self-congratulatory acclaim that members opposite have listed. I've got a couple more that perhaps they could consider addressing, which have gone on for far too long, including superannuation death benefit payouts—big super lagging in service standards. That's holding on to money that Australians have worked very hard for—that big super are not letting go of, not putting back where it belongs. This government's taken 18 months of 'soon, soon—we're going to legislate soon', but we haven't seen anything yet, and Australians right across this country are suffering deeply because of that.

On cuts to the private health rebate for older Australians, speaking to those in my electorate right now—they are making some very tough decisions. I was speaking with a lady who was telling me about her husband. He's a bricklayer and a landscape gardener. He has worked very hard all his life. They don't have a great deal of income, but what they have they've worked hard for. They've put away some money for private health care precisely because of the circumstances that they're looking at right now. The lady I was speaking with is really heartsick with worry right now because, under the cuts this government is looking at, she's not going to be able to afford that private health care going forward, and that is a great indictment of this prime minister.

The deliberate stoking of inflation is leaving Australian families to pay more at the supermarket, and there are a couple of points I want to pick up. Australia's economy is now heading towards its weakest run of growth since the 1990s. And, while the RBA left the cash rate unchanged this week, the downgrading of its labour productivity forecasts to a fall of 0.5 per cent for the rest of this year should be cause for concern. AMP chief economist Shane Oliver has pointed to the massive public spending of the Labor government and referenced its impact on productivity. Tom Richardson, writing in the Nightly, notes the scale of this Labor government's spending, which has reached a record 28 per cent of gross domestic product, and he writes:

The huge government spending is also contributing to the inflation that has outpaced wages growth since 2021.

Returning to the reference drawn by Shane Oliver, he says that consumer prices are up 25 per cent since 2021 but average wages are only up 19 per cent, and that is what Australians right across this country are staring at right now. Their rents are up—their mortgages, their cost of living, their gas bills. Electricity is up 40 per cent. They cannot afford to live under this government and pay their bills every week.

Indeed, the price we've seen at the supermarket shelves doesn't just start at the check-out; it starts at the paddock. In an electorate like mine of Monash, where we grow, make and manufacture products the rest of this country rely on—the best food and fibre across this nation—we see that every step of the journey from the paddock to the plate. Our farmers are paying more to produce our food. Their fuel, fertiliser, fodder and freight are among the biggest costs of running a farm, and those costs remain painfully high. Their margins are being shrunk, and everyday Australians are paying more at the check-out thanks to the mismanagement, overregulation and reckless disregard of this government. We have to make sure that our farmers, locally, are able to get their produce off the farm, and to do that means trucks. And, to drive those trucks, they need diesel, and they need freight. In an electorate the size of Monash, that often means transporting our food along roads that are riddled with potholes, crumbling at the edges and desperately in need of investment.

I couldn't give you a better example than one this week. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis where people can least afford to have to shell out for repairs and extra equipment, we had an absolute doozy along the Princes Highway in west Gippsland, with the heavy— (Time expired)

Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Judging from the letter that we received, I was under the impression we would be discussing supermarkets. Instead, we've had various amounts of ponderous philosophical wonderings. Let's go back to supermarkets. People know and understand that the prices are high at the moment. It's hurting people in the hip pocket. It's making decisions a little bit harder. When you're worried about money, it's hard to really think about anything else, so this government takes action.

It took meaningful action, action that needed to take place not just at the supermarket checkout but with the suppliers as well. I grew up in dairy country. I remember the milk wars and what that did to our farmers as the price dropped and dropped and it became less economical for farmers to go about their daily business milking the cows, making the money and doing something that had worked for generations. That is something that we are addressing. Price gouging—knowing that a conglomerate of big companies can take advantage of everyday Australians doing the little and simple things in life like buying the food, preparing for a kid's birthday and making the Sunday roast when the grandparents come over. People don't want to pay more for that, so we took action with some of the harshest penalties available. They know now not to step out of line, but prices aren't just a consequence of inflation or some random singularity. There's a whole-of-life thing going on here. It's a circular issue.

For an electorate such as mine, which is huge—bigger than some European countries—or the actual regions, where the roads are dirt and the rivers flood, sometimes it's very hard to get that freight up there. Sometimes it's difficult, and we're cut off for months at a time, but this government is acting. For regional, discrete Aboriginal communities, we are investing to make sure that people there pay the same amount that people in the cities do. That was not always the case. Some of the most disadvantaged communities in the country now get food for the same price as the member for Goldstein pays. That makes a massive, massive difference on Saibai Island, Lockhart River and Aurukun—places that need our help and places that want fairness and equity for food. That's what this government does. It finds a way. It finds the weak points in the system and makes a difference.

I talked about a holistic approach. The Bruce Highway is the main artery of Queensland. As the Bruce Highway goes, the rest of Queensland goes. It's prone to flooding and gets cut off. It's not in great shape. That is why this government has made the largest investment in its history to repair it, build it back better and increase the resilience in an area known for its disasters. That will make the transportation of food more efficient. It will make it cheaper, and, most importantly, it will make it safer for the truck drivers who are working every single day.

The member for Monash mentioned diesel. We know what's been going on with the price of diesel. We know why the price of diesel has gone up. As an aside, we also remember, leading up into Easter, when there were a series of reckless and irresponsible claims made by those opposite about potential rationing: 'Are we going to run out of fuel? Will farmers have enough fertiliser?' That damaged the far northern economy. That stopped people going on holiday. That hurt the small businesses you claim to represent.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister made an emergency address.

Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

People cancelled holidays. People didn't go to places. That money was not spent. It hurt my electorate to make a silly political point.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) | Link to this | Hansard source

'Let your tyres down. Take your roof racks down.'

Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

That's disgraceful. You make all of this noise, but you're not helping—a lot of noise, not a lot of help.

Diesel continues to be run in this country because of the work of our prime minister and our Foreign minister. They did the work that needed to be done to make sure that our country keeps moving forward, to make sure that my farmers have fertiliser and to make sure that the people in the leafy suburbs in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane will eat tonight. That's because of the work our prime minister did. It's because he went to Asia to make sure that those fuel lines were there. There is no crisis, no scaremongering, just getting the work done—doing what is needed to help Australians. We know it's hard out there. We're taking the work. We're doing what needs to be done to make sure that Australia is the leader in the world again.

Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak to this matter of public importance raised by the shadow treasurer. From listening to some of the contributions opposite, in particular the contribution that we've just heard—the member for Leichhardt said there's 'a lot of noise, not a lot of help'. I think that's exactly what Australians are feeling right now. They're hearing a lot of noise from Canberra, from this government, but they're not feeling the help, they're not seeing the help, and they're not hearing the help, and that is something that is hurting Australia at the moment. The people that I speak to on the southern Gold Coast and across the country are telling me that they're at breaking point. We come to this place to represent the people that have put us here.

For the time that I've been here—just over a year—we've been labouring a very key point, and that is that the government has lost control over our economy. They don't know how to generate wealth, so what are they doing? They're finding pockets across the economy where people have worked hard—they've done the right thing; they've built up and accumulated assets—and they're going after that, because there is no long-term strategy for how government can generate wealth, or create wealth, and then better enable Australians to provide for themselves in the future. That, ultimately, is frustrating me as a member of parliament, because there are only so many times that we can come to this side of the chamber and make noise so that those opposite not only hear but take action. It goes back to the point made by the member for Leichhardt: there's a lot of noise but not a lot of help. And Australians are worse off because of it.

When we come into this place and when we speak in front of the media and we talk about the 15 interest rate rises that Australians have had to deal with under this government or when we speak about the fact that the cost of living is going up for Australians—eggs up 36.5 per cent, milk up 29.7 per cent, bread up 22.7 per cent, and food overall up 18.1 per cent, let alone rents, let alone mortgages, let alone everything else—we're doing it for a reason. We're doing it for a reason, and that is because those numbers mean something to Australians. It means they can purchase less. It means they spend less time with their families because they're having to work extra hours, and it means that Australians who feel that they're putting in the effort—they're doing the right thing. Australians are not doing the wrong thing, but they feel that their government's decisions are resulting in them being worse off, and they're not being rewarded for doing the right thing. If that is the precedent, if that is what we are setting Australia up for, we're setting Australia up to fail.

The fact that those opposite not only don't understand it but are not prepared to engage in it—I listen to some of the comments made by those opposite. They're still focused on us. After being in government for 4½ years, they're still focused on us. That's something that's really concerning to me. I know that, when we hear Australians across the country saying, 'We're sick of the politics in Canberra,' this is what they're sick of, because they want government to be actually making their lives easier.

I think about the next generation because, while this is all happening—if we had a situation where the government was spending more money but Australians were seeing the benefit, I think Australians would at least look at that and say, 'Well, okay, we're seeing the result of this.' But we're seeing the opposite. We're seeing a government that is spending at record levels. Australians are feeling worse off. They're not feeling the pressure taken off them when they're looking at their monthly bills. Instead, they're also being told that we've got a debt that is accumulating for our future generations. So, on all fronts, this government is failing.

It is absolutely important that this is discussed today. Very often, we overlook the fact that this is a matter of public importance. This is important, and, if the government can't see that—I assure you that the people in the galleries and the people watching will be making the noise between now and the next election, because Australians deserve better from this government. They deserve a government that's actually going to stand up for them. They deserve a government that's going to recognise their concerns and act on them. To use the words of the member for Leichhardt again, there's a lot of noise but not a lot of help.

Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Goldstein for raising the matter of pressures facing Australian households at the check-out. The Albanese Labor government recognises the pressure. Families expect practical action to keep supermarket prices fair and hold the major chains to account. We have responded with stronger protections for shoppers, farmers and suppliers across the food and grocery sector. Last month, on 1 July, excessive pricing by Australia's very large supermarkets became illegal. We amended the mandatory food and grocery code and gave the ban force of law. Major retailers can recover their supply costs and earn a reasonable margin, but they cannot charge an excessive amount above those costs.

The ACCC now monitors prices and enforces the ban. The supermarkets must retain pricing records for at least three years. A breach carries a penalty of $10 million, three times the value of the benefit gained or 10 per cent of annual turnover, whichever is the greatest. Labor made the food and grocery code mandatory on 1 April 2025. It protects farmers and suppliers from retribution and carries multi-million-dollar penalties. We funded a $2 million education program so fresh food produce suppliers can understand their rights and stand up to the major chains. Powerful retailers should never squeeze farmers at one end and families at the other.

The Albanese Labor government is cracking down on shrinkflation too. Shoppers know the trick. The packet looks familiar, and the shelf price stays the same. But there is less food inside. That is a hidden price rise. A family pays more per gram, per litre or per item. We are strengthening the unit pricing code and introducing shrinkflation notices. Shoppers should see clearly that a pack has become smaller and compare its real unit price. We've given the ACCC almost $100 million in extra funding for stronger enforcement. We fund CHOICE to publish independent quarterly comparisons of grocery baskets.

Food waste also belongs squarely in this debate about supermarket costs and pressures on families. Food bought and not used also comes out of the household grocery budget, and Food Waste Australia puts that loss at up to $2,500 per year, or close to $50 a week, for a household. It costs the Australian economy $36.6 billion annually and drains 1.4 per cent of GDP. Across Australia, we waste 7.6 million tonnes of food each year, and households account for about 2.5 million tonnes of that. Every year, land the size of Victoria is used to grow food that ends up wasted. Farmers absorb losses from rejected produce, businesses bear handling costs, and councils fund collection and landfill. Those costs flow through to household budgets, businesses and public services. Cutting waste must remain part of this work.

Recently, at Labor's national conference, I moved an amendment calling for exactly this—stronger national action on food waste—which was seconded by my friend the member for Reid. The amendment was adopted unanimously by delegates at the conference, and it's now part of Labor's national platform. Labor believes good food should reach people rather than fill bins and landfill. Prevention must come first, and safe surplus should reach families who need it. An unavoidable surplus should go to its highest value use. I note here that the government's consultation on Feeding Australia, our first national food security strategy, has been completed and the strategy is due to be released next year.

The government has banned excessive supermarket pricing and made the grocery code mandatory. We are exposing shrinkflation. We're cutting food waste, and we're helping families get more value from every grocery dollar. On that, I want to note the incredible work of our food relief charities and our food rescue charities. In my patch, we have OzHarvest. We also have SecondBite, FareShare and Food Bank, who help us in my electorate office in Griffith supply a community pantry. We've distributed two tonnes of fresh produce through the doors of my office. I shout out all of their work. They do amazing work in this space but also a lot of community education about the role of food waste and how that can be limited.

The coalition voted against Labor's supermarket code of conduct and tried to block multimillion-dollar penalties for supermarkets doing the wrong thing. Labor chose to put those penalties in place. No Australian should be treated like a mug at the checkout. The Albanese Labor government is standing with families and delivering a fairer deal on the weekly shop. We are helping Australians manage the cost of living through cheaper medicines, stronger Medicare and fairer supermarket prices. Our work is clear, our purpose is firm and our priority remains Australian families.

Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I like to thank the gutsy the member for Goldstein for bringing forward this important MPI today. Because when Aussie families head to the supermarket for their weekly shop, the prices on the shelf are telling a story this government will not. Since the change of government eggs are up 36.5 per cent, milk is up 30 per cent, bread is up 23 per cent and food, overall, is up 18 per cent. Every one of the 12 staples on my shopping list has risen faster than inflation itself, and that is just the weekly shop—all before our family has filled up the car or been jumped scared by their power bill.

While we're on the topic of power bills, I'm pleased to give this House an update on how those opposite are going with delivering on their promise to take $275 off Australian power bills. Well, electricity is up—and it is up big time—by an eye-watering 40 per cent. You might think it can't get any worse than this, but under this government it can—and it is getting worse. Gas is up more than 40 per cent, insurance is up more than 43 per cent, rents are up 24 per cent. This Labor government will do anything but take responsibility for stoking the inflation fire, pouring debt diesel on the inflation inferno.

Prices set here in Australia are up 4.8 per cent in a year. Inflation is homegrown and this government keeps on feeding it. The Reserve Bank says government spending will continue adding to demand, and it has downgraded productivity once again. This is the first generation in our history where our kids will have a lower standard of living than their parents. Last year, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer told Australians they had turned the corner on inflation. Yet, like most promises made by this government, they promised a feast but delivered a toastie.

Inflation in Australia is set well above the Reserve Bank's target. Our underlying inflation is higher than every other economy in the G7. This is not merely a coincidence. Australian families are paying more at the check-out; they are paying more on their mortgage. Yesterday, the Reserve Bank unanimously held the cash rate at 4.35 per cent—the highest rate under this government and the highest since November 2011. After 15 interest rate hikes under this government, and more than four years of poor economic management, relief is nowhere in sight. A family on an average new mortgage is paying $26,000 a year more, and that's after tax. Real wages have gone backwards by two per cent, with prices up to 16.2 per cent and wages up only 14.2 per cent.

Under Labor, Australians are earning less and keeping less of what they earn. Living standards have collapsed and families have tightened their belts. But there is one man who won't—the Prime Minister. More spending, more taxes, more pressure on the household budget: this is his record. We have the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world. GDP per capita, which is what's important, has been going backwards in 10 of the last 15 quarters and inflation is averaging four per cent a year under Labor against 2.2 per cent under the coalition. Note: 2.2 per cent is in the target band.

The coalition have a plan for the economy. We will restore living standards and protect our way of life. We'll deliver lower taxes, cheaper power, less migration and more homes. It starts by cutting Labour's waste and delivering on our tax back guarantee so that Australians can keep more of what they earn. Australians have a clear choice at the next election: a coalition government with a plan to fix the economy, restore our living standards and protect our way of life or a Labor government that lowers your living standards, hikes your taxes and has lost control of the economy.

David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the impact of this government's efforts to assist Australian families at the supermarkets, where Australians need our support, but not just at the supermarket—at the pharmacy, at the doctor, at services upon which Australians rely right across the country, including my electorate of Hughes, from Maianbar to Macquarie Fields, from Moorebank to Menai. We're doing this to combat cost-of-living pressures, because we know Australians are feeling it at the supermarket.

The most significant combatant to the cost of living is wages. Wages are what Australians are using to pay their rent, their bills and their groceries. Under this government, the national minimum wage and award wages have continued to increase. From July 2024, minimum and award wages increased by 3.75 per cent. From July 2026, the national minimum wage increased again to $26.44 an hour, while award wages increased by 4.75 per cent. This is a government that backs increases to wages, because we want Australians earning more and having that flow through to what they can get at the check-out.

But we don't just want Australians earning more. We want them keeping more of what they earn. That's why on this side we voted to cut income taxes for working Australians last year and again this year. What did the Liberals and Nationals do? They voted against it, both times. The Leader of the Opposition called it a cruel hoax when he was shadow treasurer, and senior Liberals said it was a handout. On this side, we don't believe that keeping more of the money that Australians have earned is a handout.

These wage increases and income tax cuts matter because the people most exposed to cost-of-living pressures are those on the lowest incomes. A government that ensures workers receive higher wages is making sure that people have more capacity to meet rising costs, not making families poorer. Under those opposite, inflation was out of control. In 2022, when this government came to office, inflation got as high as 7.9 per cent. We've been disciplined. There is more work to do on inflation, but we are acting responsibly, and now inflation has a three in front of it.

I want to focus on one word that the member has used in bringing this MPI, and that's 'deliberate'. This government has deliberately supported wage rises for our lowest-paid workers. This government has deliberately cut income taxes for working Australians. This government has deliberately helped with cost-of-living pressures, with measures like cheaper medicines and greater access to seeing a doctor for free through Medicare bulk-billing. There are now 23 bulk-billing clinics in Hughes—53 per cent of total practices. That's because this government is delivering on the single largest investment into Medicare in its history. That is deliberate.

We slashed the cost of PBS medicines to $25, saving Australians over $99 million as of today—millions of Australians with multiple conditions or prescriptions across their family saving thousands on essential medicines. That's a deliberate design feature of the Albanese Labor government's health policy. And this government is cracking down on supermarket price gouging. We're banning large supermarkets from charging excessive prices compared to their cost of supply and normal margin, with $10 million in penalties for breaches.

But what did those opposite do deliberately when they were in office? When those opposite were in office, they identified low wages as a deliberate design feature of the economy that they ran. When those opposite brought in a GP tax, that was a deliberate policy to introduce price signals in health care and make families think twice before accessing the care that they need. When our government proposed tough price-gouging penalties for big supermarkets, those opposite floated thought bubbles about divestiture powers not supported by a single review of competition in the sector.

When Australians rejected those opposite at the polls in the last election, they sent a message about the kind of government they want leading this country—one that backs them at work, cuts their taxes, reduces the cost of their scripts, makes it easier for them to see a GP and gives them a fairer go at the check-out. The adage is true: empty vessels make the most noise. Despite all the noise, the composition of the benches opposite is no accident. It's a deliberate design feature of their policies.

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

This discussion has now concluded.