Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thirty-four percent—thank you. It is a 34 per cent increase in three years. That's extraordinary.

So there's this wave of income tax revenue, this tsunami of income tax revenue, that the government has been receiving, but, at the same time, it's been spending like a drunken sailor, and we have this huge inflationary impact which is hurting the Australian people and has fed into the 14 interest rate increases we've had under the Labor government. Earlier today, I quoted from the chief economist at Westpac, who's predicting an extra three interest rate increases for the balance of the year. Interest payments are $27,000 a year more for Australians with an average mortgage—an extra $27,000 in interest payments under Labor, paid by an average Australian family with a mortgage. It's an extraordinary amount. Inflation keeps going up. Australians are just being hit from all sides in a cost-of-living crisis. We're getting these mixed messages from the Labor government, and the Prime Minister has the audacity to give a national address after parliament rises.