Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor is bad for families. Inflation is up, four per cent is on the horizon and, according to the Reserve Bank's own analysis, it's likely to go even higher. Interest rates are on the rise once again, the cost of living is through the roof and the standards of living of every Australian family are falling. Labor is bad for small business. Electricity prices in particular are killing small business, such as the Albany strawberry grower I talked to who said his electricity bill is up by thousands of dollars per month, the potato grower in Pemberton who's seen an increase of $20,000 in a year and the grain processor in the Great Southern who sees an extra $4,000 every month on their bottom line.

Labor is bad for the bush. The killing of the live export trade from my home state has been devastating for the sheep industry. A 50 per cent decline in sheep numbers in Western Australia is on the cards in the very near future. We've seen the firearm changes, which again are going to make it harder for those living in the bush. Labor is bad for the weekend. The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard is going to price out for many families the four-wheel drives they use for recreation on the weekend and, incidentally, that they also need for their businesses in the future. I've spoken to the car dealers in Geraldton and I've spoken to the car dealers in Albany who talk about the fact that that $10,000-plus increase in those four-wheel drive prices will make a real difference and that Labor is bad for Western Australia. The reintroduction of the union movement to the mining sector is a disaster. (Time expired)