Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think this is a very important debate. I've got three minutes to talk on this issue. Listening to the debate that's going on here from either side, did I hear answers from the government then how they're going to address the cost of living? No; none whatsoever. All I hear are complaints about what the other side did. Let me remind the people that Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke said in the 1980s, 'No child will be living in poverty in this country by the year 2000.' When I watch TV, nearly on a weekly basis I see the advertisement for the Smith Family stating that there are a million children in Australia living in poverty, over a million children asking for help. I don't know if this chamber or the leaders of this nation in this place really can relate to the Australian people and how much they are hurting. When I turned on the TV this morning I saw that 40 per cent of people recognise the cost of living as being the biggest issue for them. What has the Labor Party done to address this? All they've spoken about is a robodebt royal commission and Scott Morrison's ministry positions. They have spoken about the jobs summit. What was that? Really? You know, about jobs.

Labor talk about the pensioners working; well, sorry, that was my policy. I'm pleased to see that the Liberal Party have taken it up but that was, again, my policy. You talk about the TAFE colleges; again, it's something I have been speaking about for years. The apprenticeship scheme was my policy to get apprentices working in 2018.

If you want to address the cost of living in this country, you address what is the cost of electricity in Australia, not only for Australian homes. The government is driving up the cost of electricity for normal households, industries, manufacturing. This is going to drive increased prices. Farmers have told me they can't afford electricity. This is a problem, yet the government is bringing in an emissions target that's going to drive up electricity costs. They have done it in England. They've done it in Europe. Guess what? It's failed. Beer in England now is $34 a pint. If you take away from the Australian people the ability to go to the pub with their mates and have a beer, you're destroying their whole life. That's what it is about. You don't realise what you're doing for the Australian people and the future generations of this nation. Don't talk to me about it. You have no idea. (Time expired)