Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to take note of answers given by Senator Minchin to questions without notice today relating to interest rates. And weren’t those answers a stellar example of just how out of touch this government has become with ordinary Australians? Does Senator Minchin really think that his answers are going to make Australians who are facing an increase of up to $70 a month extra to pay off their mortgage—or those Australians who are going to have to pay $70 a month extra in rent because their landlord is going to pass on last week’s interest rate increase to them—feel better? That is the second interest rate increase since this government was re-elected in 2004 and, as Senator George Campbell pointed out, the sixth interest rate increase since 2001.

Are Senator Minchin’s answers going to provide any succour to young people, who will see their dreams of buying a home disappear because of this latest interest rate increase on the government’s watch? Not only will those young people find it harder to save for a deposit for a house but they will be forced to compete for rental properties in a housing market that is already completely stretched. And, of course, when the rental market is stretched even further because of this latest interest rate increase, we know which Australians are going to be in the worst possible position: those on the lowest income, especially those single parents in receipt of benefits—the ones whose income and benefits will be reduced by up to $100 a week when the so-called Welfare to Work legislation introduced by this government takes effect shortly. They are the same low-income families who are already paying over 30 per cent of their income in rent.

Just how out of touch is this government? I think that was highlighted today by reports in the media of the Treasurer telling Australians that it would be good if they could save some of the money from the miserly and long-overdue tax cuts that he is apparently going to give them tonight. How patronising is that, telling people to save their money for a rainy day, as the Treasurer has done? With Australians signing up for credit cards in record numbers and average household debt per Australian family at $60,000, the Treasurer is telling Australians it is a good idea to try to save some money. With credit card debt increasing at the rate of nearly 21 per cent a year for the past five years, the Treasurer helpfully tells us to save some money! With Australian families currently spending 2.3 per cent more than is coming into the average household each week in income, the Treasurer tells those families it would be good if they tried to save some money. What piece of paternalism are we going to hear next from this government? Perhaps we will get the Treasurer’s recipes for using cheaper cuts of meat so that the family food budget is extended a bit further!

What advice are the government and the Treasurer going to give Australia’s young people who are hoping to buy a home to participate fully in society by becoming home owners but who are saddled with HECS debts when they leave university—HECS debts which are up to $8,000 a year per year of study? What advice is the Treasurer going to give to those 300,000 Australians who want to improve their opportunities for better paid jobs by gaining better skills and qualifications but have been turned away by our TAFE colleges? What is the Treasurer going to say to those people?

Isn’t it about time that the government stopped giving out this paternalistic advice about how people should manage their finances and instead started doing something to give Australians real opportunities to earn a higher level of income and started doing something about improving the ability of people to skill up and to train so that they can take on better jobs and so we do not have to import skilled labour from overseas to do those jobs of Australians?

Not only have we seen this government preside over two interest rate increases since 2004 under the very watchful eye, apparently, of Senator Minchin, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, we have also seen petrol prices go through the roof. Today at a petrol station in Coober Pedy in regional South Australia, unleaded petrol is 143.5c per litre and diesel petrol is 152c per litre. With the government intending to increase the cost of fuel for regional Australians by another three cents per litre after June, the pain for Australian families in regional areas is just going to get worse. And of course, as we know, this government has absolutely no plan for dealing with how we are going to provide affordable energy for this country into the future.

How out of touch is this government? I do not know. I do not know who Senator Minchin talks to when he frames his answers. Maybe he talks to those people who are going to share a table at dinner tonight with the Deputy Prime Minister at a cost of, I think, $1,400 per head. I do not think ordinary Australians have that kind of money. Maybe that has escaped the government’s attention—or maybe they just do not care.

During the last election campaign, the government banged on endlessly about what great economic managers they were, but let us remember that, since the government have been in office—10 long years—average mortgage repayments for Australian families have gone from $700 a month to $1,100 a month and petrol prices have gone from 70c a litre to double that. Petrol prices are now 19 per cent higher than they were at this time last year. In just the last two years of this government, according to ABS statistics, the cost of petrol has risen 31 per cent, the cost of child care has risen 25.4 per cent, the cost of hospital and medical services has risen 11.4 per cent and the cost of pharmaceuticals has risen 8.2 per cent. It might have escaped me, but I have not seen wages and welfare benefits increase that much. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.