Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

To paraphrase a great film from the early noughties, why are you so obsessed with us? All we have heard today from those in the government is their own views on what happened when we were in government. There weren't many constructive ideas at all coming from members of the government today. I think that's really disappointing. We are seven months into this government now, into this new parliament, and the broken promises are starting to stack up. The problems are out there. Australians are under the pump. We have a government that promised one thing in May, and, at best, they do something entirely different, and, at worst, they don't even address the problem to start with.

During the election campaign, and while the now government was in opposition, Labor promised on multiple occasions that they would fix the rising cost of living. They said they had a plan. They promised that they would reduce inflation. They promised that they would help Australians get household budgets under control. They promised that the average Australian could expect to see a $275 reduction in their power bills. And they promised that they would be a transparent and accountable government. It all sounded so easy, and they promised an easy fix. But it turns out that governing the country isn't as easy as some of those opposite expected. Maybe that's why they come into this place and, instead of talking about what they should be doing, they just talk about their perceived issues with the previous government.

Right now, under Anthony Albanese and Labor, we have an economy with high inflation, rapidly rising interest rates and skyrocketing costs of living. But their dismal economic management and failure to deliver what they promised doesn't stop there. Like I said, Labor have also abandoned their promise to reduce household electricity prices for Australians, a promise which they said would save the average Australian $275 on their power bill.