Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Regarding the MPI put forward today by Senator Lambie, that 'the cost-of-living crisis, fuelled by unfair practices from banks, energy and telecommunications companies posting record profits, exposes a broken system and the urgent need for fairer tax and economic reforms', the Albanese Labor government is 100 per cent focused on relieving cost-of-living pressures felt across the country. That's why our government has had a laser focus on this issue during our first term and we continue to do so in our second term. We on this side believe in wage growth, which is why we have supported increases to the minimum wage twice and secured those increases for some of Australia's lowest paid workers. That's why we on this side have delivered for the care economy's workers, with a 14 per cent pay rise for people working in aged care. That's why we have secured a 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators, something I've campaigned on for many years, in both the early childhood education area and aged care.

What a week to be in the Senate, when we will be debating one of the most important issues and pieces of legislation—that is, securing penalty rates for 2.6 million Australians, a commitment we took to the election and we will deliver in the Senate this week. It's always a good week in Canberra when a government is improving pay and conditions for working people. So I look forward to speaking on that legislation again to protect people's rights to penalty rates—to protect workers' rights to penalty rates. On this side of the chamber, we are the party of government, and any economist or politician who understands how our economy and our society work understands that we need strong banks because they provide security to our nation. We need strong banks to have rating agencies know that Australia is a place to do business and that a triple A credit rating is essential.

I want people to not forget history. The fact is that headline and underlying inflation are at a four-year low thanks to Australians who have been doing the heavy lifting over the last four years. Further to this, annual real wages have been growing for seven consecutive quarters. The economy is still expanding. The fundamentals of our nation's economy are strong. Interest rates have been cut three times in six months, taking pressure off households and mortgage holders. More than 1.1 million jobs have been created since we came to government, a record for any government in a single term. The average unemployment rate is the lowest of any government in 50 years, so the comments made by Senator Lambie by bringing this motion are absolutely unfounded, but it's very easy to come in and throw statistics and have a rant—which is what it was—about banks and this government not doing anything.

But the budget is what tells the story. We've turned two Liberal deficits into two Labor surpluses and halved the deficit in our third year. The budget position has improved by more than $270 billion, and we are still delivering tax cuts to hardworking Australians. Debt is $177 billion lower in 2024-25, saving $60 billion in interest cost as a consequence. We've found more than $100 billion in savings, whereas our predecessors had none in their last budget.

I'd like to also remind the chamber and Senator Lambie that headline inflation was 6.1 per cent when we came to office, and now it's 2.1 per cent. You can't deny that, Senator Lambie. These interest rate cuts mean a household with a $700,000 mortgage is saving about $330 a month, or $4,000 a year. Australians appreciate that. They acknowledge that. We are delivering what we said we would at the May election, rolling out billions of dollars worth of responses and support from 1 July. The national minimum wage and award wages increased by 3.5 per cent. We will stand by our record and we will continue to do all we can to assist Australians through these challenging times.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this important issue that Senator Lambie has brought before the Senate. I thank her for bringing it to us today. Senator Polley referred to Senator Lambie's speech as a rant. I would say it was an impassioned call for this government to take action on some very important issues. This is an important issue, and I thank Senator Lambie for bringing it before us.

The cost-of-living crisis has become synonymous with this Labor government. Throughout its first term and now in its second, we have seen Australians braving the ever-declining standards of living. Even now the cost of essentials refuses to come down, with milk, bread, electricity and gas all rising. The ugly truth that this government continues to shy away from is that their approach simply has not worked. Throwing temporary energy bill relief at households has not brought the cost of energy down. As we are seeing in my home state of Western Australia, now that the state government energy relief measures have been lifted off the bills, we are seeing those costs go up significantly. The latest ABS data, unsurprisingly, shows that once government funded energy bill relief ended, electricity costs rose in June 2025 across all household types. Now, with household energy prices up 40 per cent over the past two years, and a further increased forecast this year, this Labor government is a few watts short of powering a solution. With no real plan to address the issue and the demand on the grid only increasing with the rise of artificial intelligence, Australians can only expect their wallets to feel an even tighter squeeze under this government. What Australians need is a lasting cost-of-living relief, not one-off election commitments. Housing, food and non-alcoholic beverages were all included in the list of main contributors to the rise of costs of living in this quarter. Under Labor, rent is up 20 per cent, insurance is up 35 per cent and food is up 14 per cent. The fact is that this Labor government has not delivered on its alleged priority of helping Australians with the cost of living, and Australians are suffering as a result. Our young people are struggling to build their futures. Our senior citizens are shielding their life earnings from the government's superannuation tax. And our families are dreading the delivery of those windowed envelopes in the post.

We are now seeing many millennials in a position worse off than their parents were in at their age. As a result, family planning has been put on the backburner as Australians delay the inevitable cost of raising children. Australia's 2024 fertility rate stayed at 1.5 children per woman, which is well below the 2.1 replacement rate needed to sustain population growth and workplaces. Recent KPMG analysis confirms the declining birth rate is largely driven by compounding economic pressures that Australians are facing, including rising rents, mortgage payments and limited parental leave. I believe the conversation on alleviating childcare costs must include important measures like income splitting for families. Families should have a choice to access the kinds of care arrangements that best suit their needs, including alternative options that currently receive no government support at all.

This is exactly the kind of tangible cost-of-living relief that this government would never consider, but it is something that we should consider as a parliament. It's not a flashy headline, and it does not come with a dollar sign. A measure like this would bring real financial change for Australian families. This is the kind of tangible change that Australians want and need. They don't need another three-day, invite-only get-together for bureaucrats in Canberra which produces no more than he-said, she-said from journalists. When will the government stop desperately sweeping the nation's economy under the proverbial rug and face it for what it is?

The cost of living has not come down. The standard of living has in fact not gone up. Productivity growth is slower than it has ever been—or certainly in a long time. The Australian dream of homeownership, unfortunately, has become a fantasy. Australians are tired of watching the cracks in our economy widen at the hands of the Albanese government. I call on the Prime Minister to deliver real change—change that will make a difference for the millions of Australians that voted for him yet, sadly, are seeing the results of failed action by this government.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of course, there's a cost-of-living crisis in Australia, and of course it is being fuelled by corporate greed and price gouging from banks, supermarkets and energy companies. But it is also being fuelled by a tax system that is rigged to reward the wealthy. The clearest example of our tax system being rigged to reward the wealthy is the capital gains tax discount. It is the most regressive, unfair tax break on the tax books at the moment in Australia. It is turbocharging inequality, because it makes it easier for a property speculator to buy their seventh or sometimes their 70th investment property than it is for a renter to buy their first home.

The Prime Minister has been clear that this is not on the table for reform in this parliament. But I say this to the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Labor Party. They took a position on the stage 3 tax cuts to the last election but won, and then they came in and, under pressure from the Greens, community groups and millions of Australians, they actually did change the stage 3 tax cuts—and rightly so. They removed some of the most regressive elements from those stage 3 tax cuts. News flash for Labor: the capital gains tax discount is more regressive than the stage 3 tax cuts were in their original form. For the stage 3 tax cuts, 75 per cent of the benefit went to the top 20 per cent. For the capital gains tax discount, 82 per cent of the benefit flows straight to the top 10 per cent of income earners. Think about that—82 per cent to the top 10 per cent. It is way more regressive than the stage 3 tax cuts.

Labor said they couldn't change the stage 3 tax cuts until they did. They said the stage 3 tax cuts were untouchable until they touched them. Everything can't be reformed until it can be reformed. We have to reform and scrap the capital gains tax discount. If reforming stage 3 tax cuts were possible, scrapping the capital gains tax—which is even more regressive—is absolutely possible. (Time expired)

Tyron Whitten (WA, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One Nation puts Australians first. We put the interests of Australia and Australians first. Under the Albanese government, Australia's standard of living has gone backwards. Families are struggling to make ends meet. Everything from a beer at the pub to groceries at the supermarket costs more than it ever has before—especially electricity bills, under the obsession with net zero. A serious debate can't be had on the cost of living without looking at record immigration under Labor, which is driving rampant rent and housing prices for everyday Australians. In my home state of WA, we are seeing rental vacancy rates at 0.7 per cent while locals compete with the flood of new arrivals. Perth's rents have risen more than anywhere else in the country—up 7.6 per cent this year alone and up a staggering 72 per cent since 2020. So what does Labor do? Drive up demand by increasing quotas of international students along with near-record net overseas migration.

One Nation knows there are many levers available that the government can pull to provide virtually instant cost-of-living relief. The government won't pull them. One Nation will. We plan to eliminate about $30 billion a year in federal government taxes and wipe out $10 billion from Australia's cost of living; that's $40 billion more in the pockets of Australians. One Nation's cost-of-living relief will temporarily reduce petrol and diesel fuel excise by 40c a litre; eliminate the excise on alcoholic beverages sold at hospitality venues; resource and empower the ACCC to better police profiteering and collusion in supermarkets, airlines and insurance; increase the Medicare rebate to better sustain the system and promote bulk-billing, partially paid for by eliminating Medicare fraud, estimated at $1.5 to $3 billion a year; and reduce electricity bills by at least 20 per cent by amending the national electricity market rules to promote 24/7 use of baseload power sources like coal and gas.

Affordable and reliable energy is absolutely essential for Australian households and businesses. Australia has the highest average household electricity prices in the world outside of Europe. Household electricity costs have increased by up to 40 per cent in the last two years. Under the Albanese government, the obscene push for renewable subsidies and premature closures of coal and gas power plants have directly led to huge increases in our energy bills and looming energy shortages. This makes no sense in a country like Australia, where there is an abundance of natural energy resources. One Nation's energy policy aims to leverage this competitive advantage to generate cheaper, more reliable power.

The total cost of renewable energy subsidies is over $1,500 per household per year on their electricity bills. There are 10.3 million households in Australia. Abolishing these subsidies will save $15.6 billion each year. The cost to Australian taxpayers of the renewable energy transition is estimated at $1.5 trillion. One Nation does not subscribe to the impractical pursuit of net zero through the destruction of Australia's economy, environment and prime agricultural land. One Nation will abolish the department of climate change, along with related agencies, saving $30 billion per year. We will eliminate the woke agenda from government bureaucracy, including ESG and DEI programs and funding. We will eliminate the federal Aboriginal industry and provide direct assistance to those who need it, which will save approximately $8 billion per year in direct grant funding.

We will review the functions and costs of the Department of Education and eliminate duplication with state departments, saving $1 billion per year. We will review the functions and costs of the department of housing and amend or abolish the national building code mandates on costly compulsory requirements like ensuring all new homes are wheelchair accessible. We will return the NDIS to its original purpose of providing reasonable and necessary disability support. We will abolish the TGA and roll its essential functions into the department of health. One Nation will also establish a review of $3 billion worth of medications approved for the PBS. We will withdraw Australia's membership from the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the International Criminal Court. This will save about $1 billion a year. Reducing foreign aid and redirecting foreign spending based on need rather than geopolitics will save about $3 billion per year. Only One Nation puts Australians first.

Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

While I respect Senator Lambie's passion on these issues and share her concern for Australians under cost-of-living pressures, I cannot support this matter of public importance. We on this side of the chamber do not underestimate the pressure Australian families are under. The cost-of-living challenge is real. That's why the Albanese government has been tackling it since our very first day in office in 2022 and why we've continued to treat it with the urgency it deserves.

The claims made by not just Senator Lambie but other members in the chamber as part of this debate ignore the practical, targeted and meaningful steps that our government has taken on the cost of living. What Australians need right now is not despair and is not political point scoring on this issue. They need practical action that makes a difference of their lives. That's exactly what our government is doing. Helping with the cost of living is our top priority. We're working everyday to make a difference. We've been really clear. We want people to earn more and keep more of what they earn.

Since coming to office, we've led the fight on inflation, and we've made good progress. Headline and underlying inflation are at four-year lows. Interest rates have been cut three times in six months. Wages are finally moving again after a decade of stagnation, because Labor backed a rise to the minimum wage and has delivered pay rises for essential workers like aged care workers and early childhood educators. More than 1.1 million jobs have been created since we came to government—a record for any government in a single term. The average unemployment rate is the lowest of any government in 50 years. We've rolled out the most comprehensive cost-of-living package in decades, and we've done it responsibly—without fuelling inflation and while keeping the budget in good shape.

Every household and small business is receiving energy bill relief, helping to keep the lights on and keep power bills down. In my home state of Western Australia, our partnership with the state Labor government has meant Western Australians have received thousands of dollars in power bill relief in recent years. Another round of power bill credits from our government will be delivered shortly. Families are saving thousands on child care with our cheaper childcare policy, which means families are receiving higher subsidies and which will soon see families receive three days of guaranteed subsidised care.

We're making health care cheaper too. Medicines will soon be capped at $25 a script—the lowest it's been since 2004. We've tripled the bulk-billing incentive. We've opened more than 90 Medicare urgent care clinics right across the country, so people can access free health care when they need it. We are undertaking the largest Medicare investment in over 40 years to boost bulk-billing, expanding it to all Australians and providing a new incentive payment for practices that bulk-bill every patient from 1 November this year. Our plan aims to increase bulk-billing rates, making GP visits cheaper and more accessible. Our goal is to have nine out of 10 GP visits bulk-billed by 2030. Cheaper health care is key to our agenda of tackling the cost of living.

We've also made free TAFE permanent across a number of courses in crucial areas where we need skills. We have cut student debt by 20 per cent for everyone who has one—real help for millions of Australian starting their careers. We have also raised the threshold at which graduates start paying that debt back. We've increased rent assistance and boosted working age payments, recognising the squeeze renters and lower-income Australians face. On tax, the claim that our system is broken couldn't be further from the truth. Under Labor, all 14 million taxpayers received a tax cut from 1 July, including three million Australians who would have missed out under the coalition's plan. Labor is putting more money back in the pockets of Australians to help with the cost of living.

David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What's the answer to Australia's rising inequality crisis? What's the answer to funding key services like the National Disability Insurance Scheme? What's the answer to getting rid of HECS for the hundreds of thousands or millions of students facing those burdens? What's the answer to funding the renewable energy future so that we can protect the climate for this and future generations? What is the answer to that growing inequality crisis? The answer is having a system that starts taxing wealth instead of work. Of course we should. That's not only a sensible economic model but a fundamentally ethical model.

In this country people are getting more wealth and more material support simply because of what they already own rather than the work they do, rather than attending work. Sometimes families have both parents working two jobs, struggling to get by and getting whacked on marginal income tax, while the richest in this country get wealthier and wealthier and wealthier without ever breaking into a sweat. If you want to know one of the most obscene figures about the growing disparity in this country, look at what the Australia Institute highlighted in their recent report on how to switch our tax model from taxing work to taxing wealth. In the last 20 years, the richest 200 households in this country have raised their wealth from the equivalent of eight per cent of our GDP to some 25 per cent of GDP, holding more than $600 billion in assets themselves. If we applied a two per cent annual wealth tax on just those 200 richest families in this country, we would find an extra $12.5 billion a year to fund the things we need. That's just a two per cent wealth tax on just the 200 wealthiest.

We also need to get rid of the rort on capital gains tax put in by John Howard which means that those with capital gains pay half the tax for doing nothing compared to those who actually do the work and do genuine labour. This is guaranteed structural inequality. If we want a fairer society, we need to tax wealth, not work.

Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We will now proceed to consideration of documents.