I have received a letter from the honourable Leader of the Opposition proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

"Australia's broken economy and the impact of the Government's economic mismanagement on Australian families and small businesses".

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—

I don't need to tell anyone in this place that next Tuesday is the Melbourne Cup—the race that stops a nation—but, of course, next Tuesday something else happens. The Reserve Bank meets. The strong expectation is that we will see the 17th interest rate increase under Labor. This will be the decision that shatters the nation. I shudder to think what it will mean for so many Australians if they see a 17th interest rate increase under Labor.

If it comes to pass, we know the average new mortgage holder in Australia will have to find $33,000 of after-tax income that they didn't have to find when we were last in government—$33,000. You can understand why so many Australians are giving up hope. Among those hit hardest are those who have taken out a loan in recent times. We know many of them are staring down the barrel of having negative equity over their house as they're paying that kind of mortgage. Australians are having to cut back not just because of mortgage costs but because they're seeing surging inflation. It was up again yesterday. It doesn't stop. It's not just mortgages and rents. It's groceries. It's electricity. It's gas. It's insurance. It's education. It's fuel. We're about to see new records on fuel. We're getting close to it in terms of what we'll see at the bowser in the coming days. We expect to see it continue to go up. It's child care. You name it and it's going up.

Sadly, those opposite declared victory on this a long time ago. I was lucky and privileged enough to be at the grand final at the MCG. There it was, 15 minutes before the end, well before the final siren, we saw wharfie time. Well, can I give you a bit of wharfie time here? This is from the Prime Minister in March 2025. I think this was at about half-time he was declaring victory. 'We have dealt with inflation'—that's what he said. He said:

It's now down with a two in front of it.

That was early last year. I have another one, another clanger and more wharfie time from the Treasurer when he said in January last year:

The worst of the inflation challenge is now well and truly behind us.

Well, I'll tell you what, it's meant that they have had to dig very deep into their bag of excuses. Every time inflation rises and every time the interest rate goes up—the interest rate going up the 17th time is what we're looking down the barrel of next Tuesday—the Prime Minister reaches into that bag. If it's not the war in Ukraine, it'll be the war in Iran, Donald Trump or President Putin. He keeps going back. Of course, there are past prime ministers, like Prime Minister Morrison. I think Prime Minister Abbott's been on the list. He'll go back to Menzies. I think Barton's going to get a look-in on this one! I think he might even go over to the UK. I think Disraeli and Gladstone might get a look-in on this one! He will not stop. He will look for an excuse wherever he can possibly find it.

But the truth is that he's run out of excuses. Most of all, he underestimates the intelligence of Australians. He absolutely underestimates their intelligence. They know we have the highest core inflation of any major advanced country in the world. That is the reality, and there is no excuse for that. We are used to being at the right end of the league table. We are a nation of exceptionalism. That exceptionalism is being destroyed by those opposite, who do not understand the economy. They do not understand it.

Yesterday, in question time, the Prime Minister was looking for excuses. He cherry-picked the Reserve Bank governor's quotes. But I'll tell you what she actually said. She said:

… we still see inflation arising from domestic capacity pressures.

This is an economy that doesn't work. It doesn't work because they don't understand it. I say give the member for Parramatta a go. Even better, give us a go, because we'll get this right. We will get this right. But all we see from those opposite is deflection, deception and omission. That's the Labor way.

In terms of hypocrisy on this, I've got another quote here from a former opposition leader. They said:

His Prime Minister is happy to claim credit whenever things go well but when things don't go right it's always blame someone else, it's never accept responsibility.

That was said in April 2022 by the Prime Minister when he was the Leader of the Opposition. The hypocrisy knows absolutely no end when it comes to this Prime Minister.

Australians know that government spending drives inflation and higher interest rates. That's what does. It always has. There's nothing new in that. We have a crisis of big government in this country, and those opposite cannot help themselves. Spending is at a 40-year high, outside of the pandemic. We were told by Treasury officials just in the last 24 hours that over a hundred billion dollars has been spent in net spending by those opposite in their budgets since they came to power, and that drives inflation.

What we need is to save, to save the nation. That's what we need. We announced earlier this week $31 billion of savings. We have already announced that. The Treasurer told us just a few days ago that anyone with good ideas for cutting spending should come forward with them. Well, we have.

He can get rid of his net zero bureaucracy. He can get rid of his climate bureaucracy that's not reducing emissions. His green hydrogen mythology—even the Minister for Climate Change and Energy's realised that's not working. He can stop the climate boondoggle that saw $35 million go to the pre-COP flop—that snoozefest. Even the energy minister couldn't stay awake. He couldn't even stay awake at his own conference.

And, of course, there's their housing bureaucracy that's not delivering extra houses. We know housing construction in this country is in freefall, sadly. It's been in freefall because those programs are not working. We will terminate their pie-in-the-sky corporate welfare, their handouts, to big companies. I'll tell you what, there are no handouts going around right now to small business in this country. Small business is being crushed by those opposite.

We'll save billions of dollars by stopping welfare to non-Australians. I mean, seriously! Charity begins at home. It begins with Australian citizens. That's what our welfare programs and the NDIS should be focused on, as should the home deposit scheme. Isn't it extraordinary? One of the first things those opposite did when they came to power was to say, 'Let's give access to the home deposit scheme to non-Australians.' Seriously!

We'll save $8 billion by crushing the illicit tobacco trade in this country. This is extraordinary—they could reduce taxes, by 80 per cent in this case, and raise $8 billion. And they refuse to do it, because they are so in love with higher taxes.

Well, as I said, there is a better way, and that is to fix our economy and protect our way of life. That means axing Labor's toxic taxes, waste and red tape. It means ending net zero. They're embedding net zero as a legally binding obligation in the European free trade agreement. No wonder they love it so much! That's what they love about it. And, of course, we will put Australians first every day of the week, and that means an immigration policy that works for Australia. We need to get the numbers down and the standards up, moving away from their mass migration to our skilled migration. We will always put Australia first.

We hear all of the loudness from the opposition leader talking about putting Australians first. Well, he failed to do that when he voted against the tax cut for Australians this year. He failed to do it when he voted against a tax cut for Australians for next year. Eight hundred and fifty thousand Australians are benefiting from Labor's free TAFE initiative. This leader of the opposition, who now walks out of the room, also turned his back on those who rely on free TAFE, which is supporting people in getting the skills and jobs that they need and that small businesses need across this nation. Indeed, this leader of the opposition found, wherever he could, an opportunity to vote against bills that help people earn more and to vote against bills that help people keep more of what they earn. When he was last in government, in the dying days of the government that he was a cabinet member in, he proudly opposed an increase in the minimum wage.

I have seen a few different opposition leaders at the dispatch box here over the years—and I think I might see a few more in the years to come—but that was a particularly flat performance from the Leader of the Opposition. I wonder: Is he flat because his tearing down of Sussan Ley was somehow a failure? Is the Leader of the Opposition a bit flat because he was the headline act in a losing Liberal campaign in the electorate of Farrer? Is he flat because, before question time, he tuned in and he saw the member for Canning doing a far more convincing job than the Leader of the Opposition himself is able to do? Is he flat because he is the leader of the Liberal Party in name only? We know that it's the National Party that's continuing to dictate policy to all those in the Liberal Party, and so, as a result, we see a leader of the opposition with his economic credentials under real threat. I'd also note the thing that I found amazing about that speech from the Leader of the Opposition was that he would be so disrespectful to the great state of Western Australia, to my home town of Fremantle, that he would come in here and, just a month on from the grand final, attack the Fremantle Dockers. Even the member for Durack thought that was a step too far, and I agree with the member for Durack.

The Leader of the Opposition does face a leadership test, and that leadership test is called the Australia-European Union free trade agreement. The question is, ultimately: Does the Leader of the Opposition agree with himself? Does the Leader of the Opposition stand up for his own values, or does he agree with Senator Canavan? He faces a real choice: does he believe in his own values, or does he believe in Senator Canavan values; or, in another way, does he believe in free trade, or does he believe in fake tradie? I will let you say that I stand for free and fair trade and the deal negotiated by Senator Farrell, because it means Australia will get eight times more beef exports into the $30 trillion economy of the 450 million people represented by the European Union, five times more sheepmeat exports. Then, of course, when it comes to creating new jobs in the Australian economy, this backs the critical minerals industry of Australia, especially for the west.

I heard the interjection asking me about shopping. It does mean cheaper white goods. It does mean abolishing tariffs on wheat and barley, and it means that, particularly for that barley sector—I think those who know the history of trade in this country would know there were significant impediments to the trade for barley when we came to government. We removed a range of those trade impediments, and we want to remove even more trade impediments.

I'll say—maybe it will help persuade those in the Liberal Party and the National Party—there's even something in this for the blue ribbon branches of the Liberal Party: cheaper champagne. For the rest of the wine producers here in Australia, what we will see is that this free trade agreement abolishes the $56 per 100 litre tariff on Australian wine going into Europe. That means more for our wine producers across the country, and, again, I would have thought that that would be something that those opposite could support. It means cheaper pasta for Australian families. Again, I ask: why does the Leader of the Opposition—the first time he spoke in this place he said he believes in free trade and he believes in getting rid of taxes on trade. Why is he now finding himself standing up for massive taxes on Australian exports? It makes absolutely no sense.

I'm not the only one who's saying that. I note the comments from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry boss Andrew McKellar, who said:

… Australian business is calling on everyone in the Parliament to back a deal that has been worked on across the political divide for the better part of a decade.

And he had a warning, and this warning is important to those opposite, and I agree with it:

If we lose this opportunity now, we won't get it back.

That is right.

I was listening carefully when the Leader of the Opposition started off his comments in this matter of public importance, and he started off talking about, of all things, the Melbourne Cup. I agree that every meeting of the Reserve Bank is a consequential meeting, and it's important, but, unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition's shadow treasurer thinks that these things are incredibly trivial. It was just a year ago that the shadow treasurer got this headline—we know that the shadow treasurer likes headlines. This is the headline the shadow treasurer got last year: 'Senior Liberal MP Tim Wilson is really unhappy about having to work on Melbourne Cup Day'. Does anyone remember that? This was the great big idea of the now shadow treasurer. It's clearly interesting. Maybe no-one else wants the job. I don't know why he's got it, but this was his big policy idea, and it's a bit inappropriate. I'm going to read it from the shadow treasurer's Facebook page.

I will just warn the assistant minister that something being in a quote doesn't protect you from the standing orders.

He wrote:

… our—

word removed—

Prime Minister is forcing Parliament to sit on Tuesday defying Melbourne's traditions and way of life.

On Tuesday, we have the Reserve Bank meeting and, of course, the Melbourne Cup, but we're elected to parliament and we should do our jobs. I would hope that someone in the coalition is going to make sure that the shadow treasurer is actually doing some work on Melbourne Cup Day. Also, leading to the instability in the coalition, we got this quote on Facebook, and the Facebook post is still up there. The shadow treasurer said:

I make this commitment: this will never happen under a Wilson government!

There you go. It's the only public holiday that the coalition support.

But, not to be outdone, the shadow treasurer decided to call into 6PR, a radio station in Western Australia. It's a great radio station in the west. The shadow treasurer decided to call into 6PR today to complain about his own mortgage payments, saying that he is 'doing it tough'. We know that there are people who are doing it very tough in this country, but I don't think there's going to be a lot of sympathy for the shadow treasurer calling into radio stations around the country and saying, 'Please don't make me work on Melbourne Cup Day, and please feel sorry for me.'

But I will acknowledge that we did see one good thing from the coalition this week. They finally started to roll out the costed details of the cuts that they propose. I don't think this is the end of the plan, but it is the start. I was shocked, as a Western Australian, to see that at the top of the cuts list is cutting critical minerals jobs. That was the top of the list. I want to acknowledge that Premier Roger Cook, the Premier of Western Australia, is in the building this week, and I want to thank him for his support working with us on those critical minerals tax incentives to boost industry in Western Australia, to boost Australian exports and to make sure that we indeed do provide the critical minerals that the world is calling out for.

They didn't stop there. One of the critical minerals that we're really pleased to export in this country is lithium, and it goes into household batteries. But, of course, household batteries were also on the chopping block under these cuts. It's not just that; homes in my electorate were on the chopping block. We saw a commitment that they'll cut some $4.7 billion from the Housing Australia Future Fund. I challenge the Leader of the Opposition to go to the hub on Wellington Street in Perth and explain what's going to happen to those who are renting those Housing Australia Future Fund houses. Are they going to be left out in the street? Are they going to pay more rent? What is going to happen to them? What happens to the projects like what's happening on Stirling Street in my electorate? If those opposite are elected, will that project stop? There are a range of questions about the cuts that have been proposed by those opposite.

I'm proud of this government's economic record. We have made sure we've had back-to-back surpluses and 75 per cent of revenue upgrades returned to the bottom line. We have one of only nine treasurers or finance ministers around the world that have achieved a triple A credit rating from all three major agencies, and debt is $198 billion lower than forecast at the election. (Time expired)

I think we've got a new record. We got nine minutes and 50 seconds into the assistant minister's speech before he even attempted to talk about government policy. The government's policies are so weak that the minister had a platform of 10 minutes to talk to the Australian people about what they were doing to help them when they are struggling in this cost-of-living crisis and how they're bringing inflation down and we got 10 seconds, at nine minutes and 50 seconds after the speech had started. That tells you everything about this government. They're obsessed with politics. They're obsessed with attacking the opposition.

On the coalition side, we've got a plan to help the Australian people. We have our fuel price shield. Right now, oil is over $100 a barrel. If we had the fuel price shield implemented, which is the coalition policy, we would halve the fuel excise, giving relief to Australians but also giving relief to businesses. If you take cost pressures out of the supply chain for businesses, guess what? That helps take the pressure off inflation.While those opposite throw insults, the coalition will build policies that will help the Australian people. It's 18 months until the next election, and the coalition have put $31 billion in savings on the table, responsible savings to support the Australian people, because that will take pressure off inflation. It will reduce public demand. The member for Moreton this week said that we need to 'throw the kitchen sink at savings'. I look forward to the member for Moreton coming out and supporting our $31 billion in savings, because there are no savings from this treasurer. This treasurer, in his own words, has an excuse for everything.

We appreciate and understand that we live in a global market. It is a global market. We're a global country, obviously, but, when there are things outside of your control, you don't complain about them, and you don't blame them. You focus on what you can control, and you take actions around what you can control. What can this treasurer control? He can control government spending. If you reduce government spending, it gives the RBA more headroom, it gives the private sector more headroom as they grow, and it mitigates the international factors that are outside of our control. That is economics 101. That is a treasurer's job 101. If the Treasurer does not understand that, the Treasurer should resign, and, if the Treasurer is not prepared to resign, then the Prime Minister should replace him. He needs to take responsibility. The Australian people do not want to hear excuses. They do not want to hear a treasurer at the dispatch box blaming everyone else but himself. If you want to sit on those benches and you want to take responsibility for the Australian economy and take the title Treasurer, stop blaming everyone else.

The backbench of the Labor Party know it. An unnamed backbencher told the Treasurer, 'Stop sounding like a used-car salesman.' The backbench of the Labor Party have lost faith in this treasurer because they're potentially talking and listening to their communities. Now the challenge for this backbench is if they are going to back their communities, hold this treasurer to account and put pressure on this prime minister. I'll give them this little tip. This prime minister will preach unity to you. This prime minister will tell you to be unified. I say to you: show this prime minister the same unity that he showed to Prime Minister Gillard, because he stood there every step of the way building his career next to Kevin Rudd by undermining Prime Minister Gillard. He now asked this backbench to give him unyielding loyalty, loyalty that he did not show to leaders. He is leading you off a cliff, but, worse than that, he is destroying our economy. He is making the Australian people pay. He is making small businesses pay the price.

When we have community members and small-business owners in tears in our office, they want action. They want support from this prime minister and from this treasurer, and they do not receive it. They do not want to hear excuses. There are global factors that no-one can control. There are always factors you cannot control. True leaders understand that, they focus on what they can control, and they make decisions in the national interest to support all Australians. They don't sit here and spin and spin and abandon every Australian. We've got a prime minister and a treasurer that have spent their life in politics. They've got no answers for the Australian people.

The Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about Australia's supposed broken economy. Let's talk about the economy that he and his colleagues handed over. When Labor took office, inflation was already at 5.1 per cent and climbing, peaking at 6 per cent. Today it's 4.3 per cent, still too high, and families are feeling every cent, but it is still better than those opposite, without solutions. Higher global oil prices are making the job harder, but Australia remains one of the world's largest economies. The IMF ranks us 14th and forecasts our economy growing this year to be greater than those of Britain, Germany and Canada. That doesn't mean everything's fine, but it does mean that 'broken' is a slogan, not an economic analysis from the coalition of chaos.

If the opposition wants a practical example of how our economy could work better, I suggest they visit the supermarket. Coles and Woolworths account for around two thirds of supermarket sales. Two companies are two-thirds of the market. That's not much choice for Australian consumers, especially from the supposed party of freedom. For nine years, the coalition governed a country with increasingly concentrated supermarket power. And what did it leave behind? A voluntary Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. Unbelievable. That is more legislative gold from the Liberals who love loopholes. When the biggest businesses in the market held bargaining power, the coalition's great reform was to ask them to behave.

Labor made the code mandatory. We introduced serious penalties and outlawed excessive pricing by the largest supermarkets. But I think we might need to go further in examining the underlying problem. Should we be considering limits on supermarket market share? Why should two companies control so much of an essential market? Should we be making sure large supermarket landholdings are not shutting out future competitors? And should we be removing the barriers that stop independent supermarkets from opening their doors? These are questions worth asking, because the free market only works when there is genuine competition. When two supermarket chains control two thirds of sales, Australians don't need another loyalty card. They need more choice. When Labor legislated against stronger penalties, the coalition voted against it. That is a record they should explain before they lecture anyone about economic management.

The opposition also wants to speak for small business, but I've got a question for them. Who brought in the GST? The Howard government. What did that mean for every small business? They turned every small business into a tax collector. The cafe owner, the sparkie and the hairdresser are running their businesses, paying their workers and then spending their evenings keeping records and lodging business activity statements. Even Howard later admitted the original BAS was too complicated. So when the coalition lectures small business about red tape, it might start with the paperwork they gave them.

And what is the economic alternative being offered today? This week the opposition presented its package for proposed savings. It wants to scrap the $250 tax offset for working Australians and cut support for housing, while promising tax relief and more homes. Some of its other expensive promises haven't even been included in the costings. It wants to give more, spend less and leave major parts of the bill off the page. That is not an economic plan. That is a magic pudding. Everyone gets another slice, yet somehow the pudding never gets smaller.

And then there's One Nation. In July, the Opposition Leader said One Nation's economic policies could send us broke. He warned of an eternity of pain. And what did Senator Hanson say about him? She called him a management consultant and told Australians they couldn't trust the coalition. It's a good thing AI is going to take that job as well. Yet Senator Hanson has still offered to provide the numbers to help the coalition form government. One says the other's economic policies would send us broke, and the other one says the other can't be trusted, and One Nation is still offering to give them the numbers in parliament. Surely that deserves some explanation from those claiming to have the answers to Australia's economic problems.

Australians are under pressure. They deserve honest answers, real competition and policies that add up. The opposition brought this motion asking us to examine economic management. Fine, but let's examine the inflation they left, the supermarket rules they opposed, the red tape they imposed and the promises they still haven't paid for. You can't call an economy broken, put forward a magic pudding for a budget and expect no-one to check the recipe.

Small businesses are the backbone of regional Australia. They employ our locals, sponsor our footy clubs, give our kids their first jobs and keep our main streets alive. But across my electorate of Mallee, small businesses are being pushed to the wall, and Labor is doing the pushing. Power bills are soaring. Insurance premiums are crippling. Fuel, wages, bank fees and red tape are eating away at every dollar they earn. These businesses aren't asking for handouts. They just want a fighting chance.

Last week I brought Mallee business owners together for a roundtable. They're exhausted, they're angry, and they're running out of money. Clothing retailers are battling online giants on an uneven playing field. One holiday park operator told me they started the year with almost 14 staff. After the fuel crisis, that number fell to just seven after Easter. Some of Australia's biggest retailers are also sounding the alarm. JB Hi-Fi and Bunnings are reporting slowing sales. David Jones has just reported a staggering $95.5 million pre-tax loss. That's after losing $74 million the year before. Sales have fallen nearly nine per cent. Their lender has reportedly provided another $10 million just to help buy Christmas stock. If David Jones is struggling, what chance does a family owned shop in Mildura, Horsham or Swan Hill have?

The warning lights aren't flashing anymore. The economy is screaming for help, but Labor is not listening. Instead, we get more spin, more excuses, more blame shifting. While Labor congratulates itself in Canberra, Australians are struggling to put food on the table. Foodbank's latest hunger report is devastating. One in three Australian households couldn't afford enough food in the past year—one in three households. Let that sink in. These aren't just people on welfare. These are working Australians. Do you remember them, the workers? They can't afford to feed their families. Nearly seven in 10 food-insecure households experienced it for the first time in this past year.

The Treasurer wants Australians to believe inflation is under control. Inflation is back at 4.3 per cent. We should all feel great about that. Let's call inflation what it is. It's the pay cut you never agreed to. It steals the value of your wages. It eats your savings. It drives up your groceries, your insurance, your mortgage and your rent. It's an invisible tax on every Australian. Who could forget Treasurer Chalmers posing two years ago for the AFR power list patting that supposedly tamed inflation dragon on the head? Well, that dragon is alive and breathing destructive fire on Australian household budgets. Australians have endured 16 interest rate rises since Labor came to power. Now, they're facing the prospect of a 17th on cup day. You cannot tax a country into prosperity. You cannot regulate small businesses into success. Small businesses don't have the luxury of running endless deficits. They can't print money. They can't just borrow billions and send the bill to the next generation. When the money runs out, they close their doors. When a small business closes in regional Australia, we lose more than a shop. We lose jobs.

Labor doesn't seem to understand that, but the coalition does. We will cut wasteful government spending. We will lower taxes, we will back small businesses, we will deliver cheaper, more reliable energy, and we will provide relief at the bowser when global oil prices soar, because Australia's prosperity isn't created by bureaucrats sitting behind desks in Canberra. It's created by the farmers, the tradies, the shopkeepers and the family businesses who work hard, take risks and employ Australians. They are the people who keep this country going, and they're the people Labor keeps letting down. Enough is enough.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter of public importance because the cost of living is absolutely a matter of public importance. But what the Leader of the Opposition has presented today is not an economic plan; it's a political attack dressed up as economic policy, and there's one very important question that the Leader of the Opposition needs to answer: if the coalition is so concerned about the cost of living, why does it keep voting against every single measure put forward to actually help Australians with the cost of living? You cannot claim to stand up for Australian families while voting against tax cuts for those very same families. You cannot complain about the price of groceries while opposing stronger penalties for supermarkets doing the wrong thing. You cannot claim to be a party of aspiration while voting against measures to help young Australians buy their first home.

I represent my community of Bonner in Brisbane, which is home to hardworking families, pensioners, young people saving for their first home and small-business owners who work incredibly hard to make a living. I know that people are doing it tough, but the people of Bonner don't need another politician telling them that life is expensive. They need a government doing something about it. That is exactly what this Albanese Labor government is doing.

Yesterday's inflation figures showed that inflation has ticked up. We aren't pretending otherwise. We heard the Treasurer today and all this week talk about it, over and over again. Inflation and interest rates are rising around the world and the war in the Middle East has made Australia's inflation challenge harder. But let's remember what Labor inherited. Inflation was above six per cent and rising rapidly. Underlying inflation was around five per cent. Both are now substantially lower. While the opposition wants Australians to forget its record, we haven't forgotten. They had almost a decade to build a stronger, fairer economy. Instead they left us with longstanding productivity challenges and an economy vulnerable to global shocks. Now they want Australians to believe that every economic challenge began the day that they left office.

Our government is focused on jobs, with 1.3 million created since we came to office. Our government is focused on practical help and on things that make a real difference to household budgets—things like delivering a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer and cheaper medicines, with $25 scripts. We've strengthened Medicare, we've expanded bulk-billing, and we're helping Australians buy their first homes with five per cent deposits. In Bonner we opened not one but two Medicare urgent care clinics. Over 20,000 people have been through the doors since they opened just this year. We've seen the number of fully bulk-billed clinics in my community double under this government. These aren't just announcements; they are real investments making a real difference to everyday budgets in my community.

As someone who has owned and operated a small business, I know how hard small-business owners work. I know the pressure of paying wages, managing cash flow and keeping doors open. I know that small businesses need more than political slogans. They need certainty, confidence and practical support. That's why we're making things like the $20,000 instant write-off permanent. We're delivering tax reforms to support small business, cutting unnecessary red tape and backing investment and growth. In the last financial year alone, a record 385,000 new businesses were added to the Australian economy.

My community sent me to this parliament to fight for them—not to pretend that everything is perfect or to dismiss the very real pressures that they're experiencing but to work hard every single day to make their lives better. That's the fundamental difference between this government and those opposite. Labor is cutting taxes. The coalition voted against tax relief. Labor is strengthening Medicare. The coalition keeps standing in the way. Labor is taking on the supermarket giants. The coalition tried to weaken the penalties. Labor is backing small business with certainty and investment. The coalition offers complaints without a credible alternative. Through you, Deputy Speaker, I say to the Leader of the Opposition, if you want to talk about the cost of living, let's talk about it, but let's also talk about your voting record, about the policies you've opposed and about what you would actually do differently, because Australians deserve more than complaints from an opposition with no credible alternative. The families in my community don't need that, and we will continue to deliver.

Yesterday inflation went up again. Prices are up by 4.3 per cent over the year to September. Economists now expect the Reserve Bank to lift rates again next Tuesday. Because of Labor's economic mismanagement, Australian families are bracing for the highest interest rates they've seen since 2008. On too many occasions I genuinely see people at the supermarket putting groceries back because they can't afford them.

Melbourne Cup Day used to be about picking a winner, but, under this government, the only sure bet is another rate rise—No. 17. This morning the Prime Minister said these changes won't be solved overnight. Prime Minister, it's been 1,622 nights since you were elected, and Australian families have lost sleep on every single one of them. Since the Albanese Labor government was elected, Australians have experienced the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world. It got so bad that Labor's own backbench have now lost faith in its government's economic agenda. They have gone searching for answers themselves. This week the member for Chifley floated some ideas from the socialist manifesto: price caps on bread, milk and eggs. Price caps are not a plan. They are a sign that Labor's plan has failed.

While families are tightening their belts, the Prime Minister has found six million bucks for the Marrickville Golf Club in his electorate, just down the road from his property. Over the past weeks, the Prime Minister has told the House that sewerage upgrades were a key component of this grant. But what did we find out in Senate estimates on Monday? The grant does not include sewer works. But it still stinks. Once again, the Prime Minister's story has gone down the drain. He has misled this House and misled Australians. This is the same Prime Minister who told Australians there'd be no changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. Then he changed his position. While the Prime Minister is out spinning furphies by day and misleading parliament by night, small businesses are being smashed by Labor's tax grab.

The coalition has a plan to fix the economy and protect our way of life. It starts with the fundamentals. Energy is everything—your power bill, your groceries, every tonne of steel we make. Labor promised to cut power bills by $275. Instead, electricity prices are up by 40 per cent since the 2022 election. In Grey, the future of the Whyalla steelworks and the Port Pirie smelter depends on affordable power. Get energy wrong and you get everything wrong. The coalition will scrap net zero and make Australia an energy superpower. While the Treasurer says his budget cannot afford fuel relief, under the coalition, when the oil price spikes, as it is doing right now, a fuel price shield will kick in, saving you 27c a litre. The coalition will axe Labor's many new toxic taxes, deliver a tax-back guarantee and back small business. We will cut net overseas migration by 100,000 for two years, allowing housing supply to catch up. The coalition's Future Generations Fund will pay down Labor's trillion dollars of debt and build the roads, the ports, the infrastructure and the water infrastructure that the regions need.

The coalition will cut all the waste, all the taxes and all the red tape that was brought to you by the Albanese Labor government. The coalition has found $31 billion in savings already: $9.4 billion by abolishing net zero and ending Labor's climate bureaucracy; $7.3 billion by ending corporate welfare, or giving cash to their mates; $4.7 billion by scrapping Labor's failed housing schemes; $7.9 billion by breaking the illicit tobacco business model; and $2 billion by putting Australian citizens first. These savings would more than pay for a tax-back guarantee, while leaving the budget $22 billion better off over the four years. Fixing the economy is not complicated: cheaper energy, less waste, lower taxes and an end to the corruption. Get the fundamentals right, and Australians will get ahead again.

No-one on this side of the House denies that, like people all around the world, Australians are under financial pressure. The inflation data published yesterday reflects that reality. While it might not be convenient for some members of this place, we must recognise that Australian workers are facing the consequences of events occurring around the world, including ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, which are pushing up global oil prices. People in our communities didn't ask for these wars, but they are paying the price. We saw in the figures reported yesterday that petrol prices rose by 9.4 per cent, which, given the rise in oil prices, is not surprising. The promising sign beyond the headline figure, though, is that trimmed mean inflation, which removes major spikes and shocks in the economy to give a better picture of the broader health of the economy, continued to be steady, at 3.6 per cent for a fourth consecutive month. The principal driver of inflation in the Australian economy is higher global oil prices. It is not a uniquely Australian phenomenon, with inflation increasing in comparable economies including the United States, the UK and much of the eurozone. Indeed, the IMF's most recent outlook projects global inflation at 4.7 per cent.

None of this is to say that Australians aren't doing it tough, but in this environment it is important that our deliberations in this place are grounded in reality, not politics. Let's look at what experts think of Australia's economic performance. S&P Global, Moody's and Fitch have all recently reaffirmed the Australian government's triple-A credit rating, with S&P saying that 'Australia's fiscal performance is sound' and with Moody's identifying that the government's fiscal strategy is 'supported by expenditure reforms and a record of conservative budgeting'. These are not the words of politicians; these are the assessments of the world's leading global credit rating agencies. Australia is one of nine countries with a triple-A credit rating from all three of these institutions.

In estimates earlier this week, we saw the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party spend time having the RBA governor confirm that public spending is part of aggregate demand. No-one could deny that basic economics concept. However, in a statement that the RBA made last year they said they saw private demand overtaking public demand, which was backed up by statements earlier this year highlighting that private demand was stronger than forecast, and, just yesterday, that fuel costs and private investments were the primary drivers. Indeed, over the last week in estimates the RBA governor has recognised that private sector activity, global pressures and productivity are the primary drivers of the inflation increase. That is not to say that government doesn't have a role to play, which is why, in every budget and budget update, this government has found savings, including a record $60 billion in this year's budget alone, which has led to us improving the budget bottom line over the last four years by nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars and has allowed us to fund $17 billion of targeted cost-of-living relief to everyday Australians in the last financial year.

As I stated earlier this week during private members' business, members opposite should remember that, when they left office, inflation was soaring past six per cent and still rising. Gross debt was projected to be $600 billion higher by 2030. Despite this outlook, they did not do a single thing to increase savings in their final budget.

A wonderful contribution there. But I think back, with these MPIs, to my debating days. One of my favourite debating lines was 'the government's case has more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese'. Quite frankly, what they're saying today just doesn't stack up. Now, this Saturday is Halloween.

Come on, you can do better than that!

The member for Forde knows it's Halloween. It's a scary time of year. In fact, it's been a scary four years for Australians under this Labor government. Kids will get out there, with their costumes and bags, and go knocking on doors for tricks or treats. Can I just give a warning to everyone: if you see the Prime Minister coming to knock on your door on Saturday night, we know it's going to be a trick. In fact, he's not just coming for lollies. He's coming for your cost of living because he wants to decrease your standard of living. That's what he's doing. This government has been in costume for four years, making out that they are the champions of the everyday Australian. They want to make sure that everyone is looked after. But, in actual fact, what happens? You look behind the mask, and what is revealed? The true Labor Party, the one that wants to tax you more, the one that wants to spend more, the one that will drive up inflation and the one that leaves the Reserve Bank with very little choice but to put up interest rates. They're not just taking one lolly from the bowl. They are taking the whole bowl, putting it in their bag and then running for the door. That's what this government is doing.

Yesterday, in question time, we saw this classic—what I would describe in Halloween terms as 'blaming of the ghost'—from the Treasurer. It's everyone else's fault except his. It's the Middle East. It's this. It's that. It's even his other cabinet colleagues. But, in fact, what we know is that the Prime Minister yesterday decided to selectively quote the Reserve Bank governor. The Reserve Bank governor, to her credit, was in estimates yesterday, and I just thought I'd read into the record the concluding paragraph that followed what the Prime Minister said. She said this: 'Importantly, though, it's not just these global pressures that are driving inflation in Australia. While they are certainly compounding the inflation problem, we still see inflation arising from domestic capacity pressures.' This is the bit of the story that they don't like to tell over on that side. We know that the Chief Economist of the RBA, Assistant Governor Sarah Hunter, has said government spending is definitely part of the picture. If this Labor government are to try and correct this horror story that is playing out for all Australians, they need to learn to rein in their spending.

What we've seen yesterday is that inflation has jumped to 4.3 per cent, with underlying inflation at 3.6 per cent—all of this miles outside the band of two to three per cent. What does this mean for everyday Australians? Inflation is the rate at which things get more expensive, and it compounds. So, every time there is inflation, it just keeps going up and up and up. That's why I keep hearing from my community that, every time they go to the grocery store, everything seems more expensive. Every time they fill up their car with petrol, it seems more expensive. Every time they pay their private health insurance, it's getting more expensive. All of these costs are going up. That is what inflation is and what it does. Yet the Prime Minister and the Treasurer in March 2025, conveniently just prior to the last election, tried to hoodwink Australians into believing that the worst of this problem was behind us. We all know, now that the mask has been lifted. The truth has been revealed.

This government has absolutely no control over inflation, and the Reserve Bank is having to do the hard jobs for them. That's why we've seen 16 interest rate rises under this government, and we will probably see a 17th on Tuesday. The Treasurer thinks that somehow we get some joy out of that. Treasurer, none of us on this side are getting any joy out of the disastrous way in which you're handling this economy, because it's Australians that are paying. Every single time that this mortgage payment comes out of your bank account, you can thank this Treasurer. The horror story is not just going to play out this weekend. We are seeing the horror story playing out over on that side of the chamber. It's scary.

Australia is operating in a period of global uncertainty. International conflicts, supply chain disruptions and volatile energy markets continue to put pressure on prices across advanced economies while rising oil prices remain a significant driver of inflation worldwide. Australia is not immune to these pressures, and it is important to view our economic performance in its broader context. Despite these challenges, Australia's labour market remains one of the strongest in the developed world, with around 1.3 million jobs created since this government came to office and unemployment remaining comparatively low.

There is more work to do, but these are strong foundations. In my community, I regularly hear from constituents, students and business owners about cost-of-living pressures. Recently, my ACT Labor federal colleagues and I held a roundtable with local small businesses and heard firsthand about rising costs and workforce challenges, and I've also recently met with university students who spoke about the combined pressure of study expenses and everyday living costs. These conversations are a reminder that behind every economic statistic is a person just trying to make ends meet, and that is why our government is focused on delivering responsible cost-of-living relief while continuing the fight against inflation.

While inflation remains higher than we would like, it is considerably lower than the level we inherited, and underlying inflation has eased significantly. We are also seeing encouraging signs in our energy market. The latest AEMO quarterly energy dynamics report shows wholesale electricity prices are down 27 per cent compared with a year ago. For the first time, large-scale batteries supplied more power during the evening peak than expensive gas generation. Batteries are storing low-cost solar energy during the day and delivering it when Australians need it most. At the same time, large-scale solar generation increased by 30 per cent compared with the same quarter last year. More renewables, more batteries and lower wholesale prices are good outcomes for households, businesses and manufacturers alike.

Cost-of-living relief is also about health care. Next week marks one year since the Albanese Labor government's landmark investment to strengthen Medicare and make health care more affordable. Here in the ACT, that investment has helped deliver three fully bulk-billing GP clinics and a new GP led urgent care clinic, giving Canberrans greater access to free or low-cost health care closer to home. Across Australia, we have capped the cost of PBS medicines at $25 and made it cheaper and easier for women to access oral contraceptive pills, IUDs and menopause treatments. These are practical measures that ease pressure on household budgets while helping to move us in the right direction on access to affordable health care. Just this week, we announced more access through pharmacies to treatments for urinary tract infections and also for access to contraception, making it easier for women to get these treatments without needing to pay to see a GP. This is also helping with their cost of living.

Importantly, we have delivered this support while maintaining fiscal discipline. The government has identified almost $180 billion in savings since coming to office, including more than $60 billion in this year's budget alone. We are also laying the foundations for stronger productivity growth. Productivity improvements take time to flow through the economy, which is why we have already delivered reforms to reduce barriers to investment and improve economic efficiency, including environmental approval reforms and freezing changes to the National Construction Code.

Australians also deserve confidence that they are getting a fair deal at the checkout. We have strengthened and mandated the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, tackled shrinkflation, improved unit pricing transparency and strengthened the powers of the ACCC to promote competition— (Time expired)

The time for discussion has concluded.