Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to all opposition questions without notice asked today.

As I kick off, I'd like to first assist our mathematically challenged Minister for Finance, who didn't know the answer to what a 25-basis-point rise and a cash rate of 3.85 per cent was going to cost an average mortgage holder. It will cost your average mortgage holder with a $600,000 mortgage an additional $100 a month. In case the maths is too hard for you, that's $1,200 a year, Minister. That's what I would like to take note of—the fact that this Labor government has ignored the increased cost because of this interest rate rise for all mortgage holders around Australia and anybody that has a debt, in fact, whether it be a car loan, a personal loan or a home loan. That's going to go up for them. That's the cost of living in action.

This rate rise was no accident. We knew it was coming. We knew it was coming because inflation went back up again. Why did inflation go back up again? It's pretty simple. Inflation went back up again because there is too much demand in the economy caused by public spending. What causes public spending? Labor causes public spending. It's pretty clear. This economy is not serving Australians well. These guys will tell you all about what a great job they're doing, but you don't need to go too far to speak to the average Australian and find out that they are hurting right now. Households are going to have to make decisions. Because of this rate rise that's happened under Labor, they're going to have to make decisions about what to cut out of their family budgets. Electricity has already gone up 38 per cent, but its due to go up another 24 per cent just this year alone. Rents are up 22 per cent. Health has gone up. Food has gone up. Insurance has gone up by 39 per cent. Education has gone up by 17 per cent. It's no wonder that this cost-of-living crisis, which has dragged on and on under Labor, is hurting average Australians.

At the same time, we're seeing economic growth stagnating. In fact, the only thing that's been propping up economic growth has been immigration that has run well out of control. It's an extremely badly managed immigration system. In fact, GDP per capita has gone backwards under this government. At the same time, we've seen productivity go backwards as well. So actually increasing economic growth without driving further inflation is becoming harder and harder.

The tax settings in this country are sucking the life out of our entrepreneurialism, innovation and aspiration. We've got budget deficits as far as the eye can see. There is not a budget for the next 10 years that is not forecasting a deficit. What does that mean? That means that the government is planning to spend more than it earns. Can you imagine a household out there that, for 10 years, said, 'We're going to spend more than we earn'? That's what Labor are doing. That's what they're planning on. That means that debt rises higher. I think we've now hit a trillion dollars. I'm pretty sure we've hit a trillion dollars in debt, and it's rising to $1.2 trillion. It's not this generation that's going to pay for it; it's the next generation. It's our children. It's our grandchildren. This is happening on Labor's watch.

What has the Treasurer said about this? You'll be pleased to know that he's really thought long and hard about this! There have been sleepless nights! Do you know what he said today? He said that it was the fault of people who had taken holidays that inflation was rising. He actually said that it was driven by a 'Christmas spendathon' by individuals and families. So, if you took a holiday, it's apparently all your fault that inflation is rising, not the government's. He hasn't taken responsibility for that. In fact, he hasn't taken responsibility for anything. Actually, he loves it when inflation goes down. He loves it. That he takes responsibility for. When interest rates go down, when inflation goes down, that's all Jim. That's all the Treasurer. That's all his good work. But, when inflation goes up, when interest rates go up, that's got to be somebody else's fault. And any time somebody criticises him, well, that's 'politically motivated'.

He was criticised by a very well-respected economist in Shane Oliver from AMP, who said that government spending is fuelling inflation and that's causing interest rate rises. Do you know what the Treasurer said? He said, 'Well, that's politically motivated.' I would be very interested to know whether all of those economists out there are politically motivated. Do you think that Paul Bloxham from HSBC is politically motivated? Is Richard Holden from the University of New South Wales politically motivated? Is Luci Ellis from Westpac politically motivated? Is Alan Oster from NAB? Is Chris Richardson, a very well-respected, independent economist, politically motivated too? What about Pradeep Philip from Deloitte? What about Stephen Anthony from Macroeconomics Advisory or Cherelle Murphy from EY? Is Alex Joyner from IFM, from industry super? Is he politically motivated? How about the Parliamentary Budget Office? They were the last people to call out Labor's lies. (Time expired)