This Melbourne Cup Day, it looks like we are all going to be losers. Just before the race that stops the nation, the Reserve Bank is expected to deliver another rate rise that will stop family budgets in their tracks. That would be 17 interest rate rises under this government, and inflation is still way above target. The Reserve Bank has made two things very clear. Firstly, it can't control government spending—the very thing that is driving up inflation and forcing up interest rates. Also, it will do whatever it takes to get inflation back within the band that's expected. So, while the RBA is using interest rates to force households to tighten their belts, the Albanese government keeps splashing the cash. There'll be a winner at Flemington on Tuesday, but millions of Australians will be counting their losses. If there's one horse that should not be backed, it's this Albanese Labor government.

Speaking of interest rates, the Minister for Housing has a theory about why the housing market is struggling: interest rates. She said it on Sunrise. She said it on Insiders. She said it at the National Press Club, and she said it on Radio National—interest rates, interest rates, interest rates—and she's right. There have been 16 interest rate rises so far under the Albanese Labor government, and they are crushing the hopes of first home buyers. If only there was something that the government could do about the inflation that's causing these high interest rates. Amazingly, there is! It's them, on that side. They could actually do something about their spending. But Labor keeps spending, inflation stays high, the Reserve Bank keeps having to raise interest rates and the housing minister keeps talking about these interest rates like they've fallen out of the sky. Minister, the call is coming from inside the house!

Another of this Prime Minister and this defence minister's great ideas is the great land sell-off that they are undertaking of our defence estate. This is not a land sale; this is a national security sellout—make no mistake. The Albanese government is selling off 67 defence sites, including the historic Victoria Barracks, and, once again, they are turning their backs on our veterans and our Defence Force. Thousands of Australians have taken to the streets. Veterans, former military leaders and—would you believe—even Labor politicians are demanding that the government stops this fire sale, but the Albanese government refuses to listen. Defence personnel are already being told to pack their bags, with serious questions about where they will be headed. These sites are not just land; they are part of our military history, part of our defence capability and part of our national identity. Once they're sold, they are gone forever. Australia's national security should not be for sale.

Finally, today the Liberal and National teams are proud to have secured a win for older Australians. Labor wanted to cut the private health insurance rebate for Australians aged 65 and over. That would have hit more than three million older Australians—thousands in the northern Gold Coast communities that I represent in this place—and premiums would have risen by up to $800 per year for singles and $1,600 per year for couples. Many of these millions of Australians are pensioners who've paid for private health insurance for their whole working lives. They shouldn't now be punished for it by this Labor government.

We fought this. We fought it here in the House, we fought it in the Senate, and we won. I want to say a sincere thank you to all who wrote into my office, who supported this campaign, because we fought hard and we won. But what we've seen is that Labor will try it again. They will not rest until they've taken every last dollar off every last Australian. The way they are treating older Australians with such contempt brings absolute shame on them. I, and the Liberal and National parties, will stand up for older Australians, retirees and families throughout this country, who deserve so much better than what this Labor government has to offer.