Jessica Collins (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australian Financial Review journalist Ronald Mizen revealed today that government agencies have, in their last financial year, blown their staffing budget by almost $1 billion. Unexpected and uncosted employment payments, totalling $851 million in just one year, are the result of thousands of new Public Service hires, artificially increased pay rises and exploding workers' compensation payments. That there are unexpected and uncosted payments shows how utterly incompetent this government is with managing the federal budget and taxpayers' money.

The Labor government led by Anthony Albanese is one of the biggest spenders on record, and what do we get for it? Higher taxes and declining productivity. The department of climate change and energy was $70 million over its staffing budget. This department is so totally focused on ramming through its green agenda that it's not just national parks and farmland that are being destroyed, but the staffing budget too. Remember you are paying for this budget incompetence. This is your hard earned money. Current government taxes cannot pay this bill. The Treasurer takes out loans to cover the costs, and you, your children and your grandchildren will pay for it. In the time it's taken to make this two-minute statement, we collectively paid $100,000 just in interest. Don't forget we are about to cross the historic $1 trillion debt line—the largest amount of debt in Australia's history. More debt means lower standards of living. This is the first time in Australia's history that the next generation will be handed a lower standard of living, and this is the fault of the Labor government. Let's connect the dots. Australians will always end up paying more under Labor.