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

How insulting! How insulting that, while Australians have just heard that interest rates have been increased, all we hear about from the government is bulk-billing, which is harder to find than a Labor government that knows how to spend your money well and reduce spending. I tell you what, that is absolutely disgraceful, and it is gaslighting in its highest form.

Last July, the Prime Minister stood before Australians and said that inflation had 'turned the corner'. That is not what the RBA said today. We are going to see it go up and up this year, as we will interest rates. Those opposite would have the Australian public believe that everything is fine and that you can rely on your Medicare card to get through this cost-of-living crisis. I don't know one person that has found a bulk-billing place yet. Every time you turn up, you have to turn up with your credit card. It is an absolute fallacy. Do not believe those lies. Australians are smarter than that. They can feel this cost-of-living crisis. They have seen their bills go up. Their energy bills have gone up by thousands of dollars while those opposite promised time and time again that they would go down. They were promised that fuel, food, health care and houses would be affordable, and we keep seeing them go up and up.

This government will not take responsibility for this. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is the first to take credit when interest rates fall, but when they go up he puts the blame on you—on good Australians who are working hard. He said it is because you spent too much money at Christmas time. How offensive is that! The RBA itself has said that the government is spending too much. We know that interest rates will always go up under a Labor government, but of course it's never their fault. Dr Jim Chalmers needs to be honest with the Australian people about why those interest rates rose today and why they will continue to rise under this 'spend now, pay later' government, because the effect is that Australians are poorer. Our living standard is dropping. I think this is the first time in modern Australia that the next generation will be handed a poorer standard of living.

The simple economic principle of supply and demand needs explaining to those opposite. When you drastically curtail the supply of goods like energy and houses through excessive regulation, sky-high taxes and ideological inflexibility, that supply goes down. When you have an immigration system that is out of control and not bringing in highly skilled, democratically valued migrants, the demand for those limited goods absolutely skyrockets. Over a million new arrivals in Australia have pushed Australians out of the housing market and into residence stress. We have record ramping issues at our major hospitals. Congestion and transport constraints are hurting commuters and freight in every major city in the country. Labor has no solution, only spin, and the regions are hurting the most. The great Australian dream of owning your own home is dead for young Australians, and these Labor ministers are the ones who killed it.

We hear about the poor economic management from this government, and all Australians see is our prime minister at the Australian Open with his son, on taxpayer dollars, enjoying himself as they try to work out their budgets while inflation is up, prices are up and interest rates are up. Families aren't spending; this Labor government is. And, when Labor spends, you pay.