Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians are hurting under cost-of-living pressures. The government is spending too much money. That is driving inflation, which is driving interest rates, and Australian families and small businesses are paying the price of that. You don't have to believe me, but you can believe the Catholic Church. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has said in its most recent report that the human stories of struggle underline the cost-of-living pressures of Australian families.

In the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference's most recent report, The cost of our living: economic and social justice for the common good, the Catholic Church catalogues the cost-of-living pressures that are being felt by Australian families across our country. Evidence cited in the report reveals that more than 70 per cent of Australians say that the cost of goods and services has risen faster than their earnings. That report says that food insecurity is increasing, with more than one in three Australian households having difficulty accessing sufficient food, forcing many families to skip meals or rely on emergency food relief. Those are not the comments of a politician; they are the comments of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

In the last few weeks, what else have we heard about the cost-of-living pressures being felt by Australian families? The Queensland Council of Social Services has confirmed that cost-of-living pressures are driving a sharp rise in demand for community support services across Queensland. This is all the result of the Albanese government's lack of attention to cost-of-living pressures. It says that 81 per cent of services are experiencing increased demand. Labor has failed to address cost-of-living pressures for Australian families.