Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked by Senator Paterson and Senator Chandler in question time today.

We saw in question time yesterday and through the correction that Minister Gallagher was forced to provide to the chamber today the importance of the truth in this chamber and why Australians should be very wary about believing anything that Labor are saying. We heard, through the last debate, the minister make a joke of a serious matter with regard to orders for the production of documents and the complete lack of respect that Labor has shown in this chamber with respect to delivering information that the chamber—the parliament, the representatives of the people—have asked for. They show no respect for that and they do the same in question time. They will do anything that they possibly can to deflect from the truth, from the reality.

Yesterday, on a day when interest rates went up by 25 basis points and Australians were hurting, the Labor Party tried to say that the Howard government was the highest-spending government in the last 40 years, and of course we know—because the minister was forced to correct the record today—that wasn't true. The government tries to deflect from its high spending, which is driving inflation up and keeping interest rates higher for longer. It tries to deflect from that. In fact, the Howard government never achieved a spending-to-GDP ratio anywhere near what this current government is doing. The current government's spending-to-GDP ratio, according to their own documents, is 26.2 per cent of GDP. The highest level for the Howard-Costello government was 25.1 per cent in 1996-97. And let's remember, they were coming off the Hawke-Keating years, when spending did run out of control, and it was that Howard-Costello government that put in spending parameters and delivered budget surplus after budget surplus after budget surplus—paid off $96 billion of Labor debt, left zero debt when we left government in 2006-07 and had put billions of dollars into the Future Fund.

That's the government that Senator Gallagher tried to blame for having the highest spending. And of course today she had to correct for the pandemic, when all of us were concerned that the Australian economy wouldn't crash because we had to close so much down. And yes, we did spend a lot of money during that time, but Labor wanted us to spend more money; let's not forget that. Labor complained when we stopped JobKeeper. Labor complained when we decided it was time to cut back on programs. They said, 'Spend more.' So you can't believe a thing they say. This government is the highest-spending government, outside of the pandemic, in 40 years. It's that simple.

Yesterday we also saw that the Defence Force, desperate for money, is having to flog off our heritage—defence heritage around the country—to pay the bills. It's shameful. In my home state of Tasmania there is no question that it will be much harder for young people to engage with cadets, whether Air Force, Navy or Army, because it's not going to be in their home town. We don't know whether Devonport or Burney is going to have a base anymore. They're combining the two into one. The 44th Transport Squadron, which has been there for decades, is being sold off. It's a disgrace. And the facility at Scottsdale, which, for 60 years, has been at the forefront of food innovation, in developing materials and meals for our Defence Force, and received an $18 million upgrade in 2014—they're going to flog that off, too. That capacity is being taken out of Tasmania. It's no wonder that the head of the Tasmanian RSL said:

Such a withdrawal fundamentally alters Tasmania's role in Australia's Defence posture and sends a clear signal that Tasmania is no longer regarded as a state of Defence significance.

It's shameful. This is an extraordinary position to adopt, given Tasmania's longstanding and disproportionate contribution to Defence recruitment. It's an outrage. (Time expired)

Lisa Darmanin (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to get some facts on the record here. We just heard Senator Colbeck draw attention to some items that we were debating earlier this afternoon—that the highest-spending government was the Morrison government and the highest-taxing government was the Howard government. We won't be taking lectures from those opposite, the same Liberals who left us with much higher and rising inflation and a mess to clean up in the budget. The coalition's many false claims and their record are among the many reasons that nobody takes the Liberals seriously on the economy anymore.

If we want to talk about false statements, what about on the Insiders program just this past Sunday, 1 February? Ted O'Brien, from the other side, made a number of false statements that just don't stack up. Ted O'Brien claimed that this is the highest-spending government in 40 years. Spending as a percentage of GDP peaked at 31.4 per cent, under the Morrison government. We brought it down to 24.4 per cent in 2022-2023, and it is forecast to stay below 27 per cent and gradually fall over the forward estimates. Real spending growth averaged 4.1 per cent under the coalition from 2013 to 2022, when they were in government, whereas it's averaged 1.7 per cent under our government, including over the seven years through to the 2028-29 forecast. Even when the COVID years are removed, average real spending growth was higher under the coalition, at 2.6 per cent.

Contrast that with the performance of this government. We have found $114 billion in savings already, and $20 billion of that was in the budget update just less than two months ago. And we have engineered the biggest nominal improvement in our history in a three-year term, a $233 billion budget improvement, and we have delivered a couple of surpluses and got the debt down to $176 billion. Our last budget update alone included the same amount of savings as the Liberals had in their last seven budget updates combined. So again I say on taking lectures from those opposite that, really, the Australian people know better.

Those outcomes that I just talked about then in terms of budget management are those that have been put in place since we came to office in 2022. We had the first back-to-back surplus in almost two decades, returned over 70 per cent of all tax receipt upgrades to the bottom line, compared to our predecessors, who returned only about 40 per cent, and debt in 2024-2025 was $188 billion lower, as I said, than was forecast prior to the 2022 election, saving the nation around $60 billion in interest costs over the decade.

I think it's worth getting the facts on the record just to be clear that the biggest-taxing government in modern Australian economic history is not the Albanese Labor government but was the Howard government. The federal tax take hit of 24.2 per cent of GDP in 2005-2006 was higher than the 2024-25 of 23.7 per cent.

In addition to this, I would also say that, were those opposite in government, that spending would be higher. In fact, the coalition also opposed the Labor tax cuts for all 14 million Australians that we proposed to bring in and did bring in on 1 July last year, including those earning less than $45,000. Two days before the election, the member for Hume snuck out the coalition costings, which revealed $75 billion in higher personal income taxes and a whole range of other high taxes on motorists and the housing construction industry, higher student debt, bigger mortgages for tens of thousands of Australians and higher power bills. Those opposite want to lecture us about spending, yet their proposal was to spend more. At the same time, this government, with careful and responsible budget management, has delivered savings, lowered taxes and brought in a range of measures to support the Australian people.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Government senators are guilty of suffering from the effects of long COVID—selective memory and forgetfulness. When we talk about the budget decisions that were taken by the Morrison government, let's remember only one thing: the pandemic. In fact, had Labor's measures been adopted by the Morrison government, that level of spending as a percentage of GDP would have been considerably higher, not lower.

Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister, was elected on one pledge. He said that Australians would be better off under Labor. Well, the beginning of 2026 has been marked by a trifecta of trouble for Australian families and Australian businesses, with energy costs rising, inflation rising and now interest rates rising. And who is paying the price for this? Australian families and Australian small businesses. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has said that electricity prices increased by 19.9 per cent in the year to November 2025, and it identified seven per cent in just one single month. The average residential energy debt for Australian families is now up by almost $1,500, or 38.6 per cent, since Labor was elected in 2022, and 205,000 Australian families are now on electricity hardship programs.

Inflation is the menace in any economy. It hurts pensioners. It hurts young families. It hurts businesses. The inflation rate has now risen to 3.8 per cent. The trimmed mean rate for inflation is now 3.3 per cent. Both of those numbers sit outside the RBA's band for inflation, so it's no surprise that the RBA has had to step in to correct the government's bad management. That bad management is being driven by excessive levels of government spending. The inflation rate in Australia is now higher than in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan and Germany. That is the record of that Labor government. And, of course, interest rates—Australian families woke up this week to discover that they had to find more in their income in order to meet mortgage repayments because the banks, not surprisingly, have now followed through on that RBA rate decision and increased interest rate payments for Australian families and households.

This is what happens when you have a government that doesn't understand this economic fact: high levels of government spending always result in higher levels of inflation, which always result in higher interest rates. That is the economic law that Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese think that they can ignore. But there is one Labor government minister who understands what's happening, and she belled the cat in the media this week. Congratulations to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Amanda Rishworth, for calling her own government out. And what did the minister say? She said that it was 'unwelcome' that inflation had ticked up. She also said, when asked how the government can respond, that it's important that we make sure that the government is 'repairing the budget'.

Why does the budget need repair? Because the government's spending in the budget is now the highest it has been for 40 years. The government's own economic documents say that government spending for 2025-26 will be 26.2 per cent of GDP. That is the highest level of government spending outside of the pandemic. It is the highest level of government spending in 40 years. Government spending is growing at four times the rate of growth in the economy. This is why 2026 has started off badly for Australian families and Australian businesses—and guess what? Australians are about to find out that it's going to get worse under Labor. (Time expired)

Josh Dolega (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's actually good to rise today to participate in this debate, which I think has been quite a great debate about how each side of politics has been addressing the cost of living, spending and taxation. It's been really good to listen to. Old Johnny Howard has been rolled out again today and—

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

Senator Dolega, we address people properly.

Josh Dolega (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sorry. Former prime minister Howard has been rolled out into the debate again today. It takes me back. And how could we not go back and think of how, when they're not fighting and sniping and stabbing each other in the back, that side of politics actually delivers cost-of-living support for working Australians? They introduced Work Choices.

Now, I have to give a trigger warning for people, because, at the hands of those opposite—not all of them here today but their side of politics—WorkChoices single-handedly caused so much destruction for working Australians. WorkChoices had a real impact on Australians. Australians who were on an award wage had a real pay cut of around $97 a week thanks to the actions of those opposite. Seventy per cent of workers lost their shift loadings, 68 per cent of workers lost their leave loadings, 65 per cent of workers lost their penalty rates, 49 per cent of people lost their overtime loadings, 25 per cent of people no longer had public holidays, more than 3½ million Australians lost their protection from unfair dismissal, and unknown numbers of Australians were sacked or treated unfairly and had no recourse.

My dad was one of those people who was affected by WorkChoices and by those opposite. By God, the trade union movement and working people will never forget what you mob are like when you have your act together, and that's why we will always continue to fight you.

But let's also have a little bit of a talk about how we on this side of politics, the government side, address cost-of-living pressures for everyday Australians. We are taking steps to implement policies that deliver real outcomes for people in need. We started that on 1 January this year with medicines. PBS scripts came in at $25. We talked about the Howard years. Scripts on the PBS have not been that low since 2004, so we are delivering real cost-of-living measures for people who need them with their medicines. For those on benefits, like pensioners, their scripts on the PBS are capped at $7.77.

We're also delivering real cost-of-living support when it comes to health and mental health for all Australians. We are investing in Medicare mental health centres, and I know that the new Medicare mental health clinic we've opened on Steele Street has been warmly welcomed by the Devonport community in my duty electorate of Braddon. People have warmly embraced coming and getting mental health support without the need for their credit card; all they need is their Medicare card. They've warmly embraced our Medicare urgent care clinic at the top end of Steele Street, where people can come in and get the urgent care and support they need without needing their credit card, just their Medicare card.

We've tripled the bulk-billing incentive, and we've seen over 1,200 GPs sign up to become Medicare bulk-billing practices. People can actually make the decision to choose to prioritise their health, rather than choosing whether they go to the doctor or pay for school fees or pay for groceries. We're putting health back as a priority, which is easing cost-of-living pressures.

I was talking about wages being cut under the Howard government. We've been increasing wages. Since we've come into government, we have supported a 15 per cent wage rise for the most vulnerable and needed workers in our community: aged-care workers. We've also supported workers in early learning. These are some of the most underpaid workers with some of the most important responsibilities that we have: caring for our little ones while their parents go to work. We always talk about the dignity of work. Getting parents back into the workforce and contributing so they can have the life they want is pretty bloody important.

We've increased public sector wages, after deliberate suppression and attacks— (Time expired)

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have a government that has nowhere else to go. Their lies have become so many and so big, the gaslighting has grown so immense that now they have been forced to admit that they deceived the Australian people and told a big, fat one when they said that the highest spending government was the Howard government—

Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No. It was the Morrison government.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

with absolutely no basis to the claim. Then, to cover up their embarrassment, they put some spin on it.

Government senators interjecting—

I've hit a nerve. I'll take those interjections, because I've hit a nerve because they're embarrassed at the fact they made that claim, and then they put a spin on it to try and say, 'Oh no, it was actually about the Morrison government.' Righto! You can convince yourselves as much as you want.

The government's contempt for the intelligence of Australians could not be any clearer. Instead of being honest about how its reckless spending has driven up interest rates and inflation, all we hear from the Albanese government is that inflation was at six per cent when it came to office. How convenient that Labor omits the context behind this figure! How convenient that Labor refuses to mention the pandemic! Heaven forbid they had been in government when the pandemic hit, we would be in a worse situation than we are currently in—and you thought it couldn't get any worse than what we're currently have. How convenient that Labor overlooks the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression and a crisis that sent inflation soaring around the globe! How convenient that Labor disregards the reality that Australia emerged from the pandemic stronger than most other developed nations, thanks to the coalition government's economic management! How convenient that Labor tries to erase the fact that its own pandemic measures would have cost taxpayers an additional $81 billion! But we know they love to spend like this.

Labor's year zero mentality has come as no surprise. This government discard inconvenient truths and rewrite history because they're manufacturing the facts to suit their political agenda. For almost four years the Albanese ministry of truth has been beavering away. There was the Prime Minister's historical distortion of Gough Whitlam's dismissal. There was the Prime Minister's historical revisionism of John Curtin's decision to look to America—an interpretation which Peter Jennings said 'would fail as an undergraduate essay'. And there are a litany of Labor promises that the government conveniently no longer mentions. Will I get some interjections? No doubt I will. I'm waiting for them.

There is a clear pattern here: the promise of a $275 cut to power bills; every year, the promise that people are better off under the Labor government; the promise of cheaper mortgages; the promise to build 1.2 million new homes; and the promise that, when you visit the GP, all you need is a Medicare card. Where have the promises gone? Down the Orwellian memory hole.

Government senators interjecting—

There are those interjections again. And there is the big lie churned out by the Albanese ministry of truth that it inherited a trillion dollars of debt. It's a lie that they repeat ad nauseam.

I'm hitting another nerve there. It's a lie so egregious it was even exposed by their friends at the ABC. When the coalition left government, net debt was $516 billion—almost half of what Labor claimed. Keep in mind that $343 billion was for pandemic measures which saved one million businesses and kept four million Australians in jobs. And yet isn't it ironic that Labor's trillion dollar debt lie has come back to bite them? The fiction they fabricated to smear the coalition is now an emerging problem of their own making. Fancy that!

Thanks to the Albanese government's reckless spending, Australia is hurtling towards $1.2 trillion in debt by the next election. This debt bomb—not a bunker buster but an opportunity obliterator—will land on generations of Australians to come. When future generations ask, 'How did we get here?' not even the Albanese ministry of truth will be able to erase its record of its reckless spending. The millions squandered on a divisive referendum, the billions taken from Australian taxpayers to subsidise a handful of university students, the Labor policy that failed the fairness test, and, of course, billions in handouts to green energy groups to roll out— (Time expired)

Question agreed to.