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

Earlier this month, the Senate's Select Committee on the Cost of Living held a public inquiry in Hobart to hear about the impact of the massive cost-of-living increases over the last 12 months on Tasmanians. The message from that committee hearing was clear: Labor's cost-of-living crisis is hurting Tasmanians.

The committee heard testimony from witnesses ranging from the not-for-profit organisations to representatives from Tasmania's local business community. The St Vincent de Paul Society said they were seeing more Tasmanians coming through their doors. Similarly, Foodbank told the committee that their agencies were experiencing unprecedented demand for food and groceries. According to them, that same demand for food and groceries is so high that they do not have enough to provide to all of those in need.

This is simply not good enough. Mr Albanese, the Prime Minister, spent the better part of last year's election campaign saying that Australians will be better off under Labor. But, under Labor, the cost of living has only gone up for Tasmanians. Over the past 12 months, the price of bread has gone up 13.1 per cent. The price of milk has risen 16.1 per cent and the price of cheese has gone up a whopping 16.8 per cent. Mr Albanese promised that power bills would fall by $275 from 2022 prices. Instead, they are rising by hundreds of dollars. They also promised mortgage rates would be lower, yet, the cash rate has risen an eye-watering 11 times since they took office. And let's see what happens tomorrow, on Tuesday.

It is time for the government to stop making excuses and deliver the cost-of-living relief that it promised to Australians and, particularly, to Tasmanians. Far from cutting the cost of living, under Labor thousands of Tasmanians are struggling to make ends meet.