Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I'm going to read into Hansard a few comments that I've read this week about the cost of living. Quote:

I've cut down to 1 meal a day, but unfortunately the money I save by doing this will probably be eaten up by my next rent increase.

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I've told my friends and family that I'm on ozempic, but really I can't afford my usual groceries.

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The Australian economy got me doing maths in the supermarket aisle like a final exam I did not study for and still failing.

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I've just been living off cheap stuff. I only buy long life milk cause I can make that stretch longer than already cold milk.

This is the reality for people across the country right now. The system is broken. People know it, and they're living it every single day. The politicians in this place just don't seem to get it. Every struggle to afford groceries while supermarket profits continue to soar, every worry about putting food on the table and every rent increase happens while the Labor, Liberal and One Nation parties have dinner with the same billionaires and CEOs driving up those prices.

I want people to know that they are right to be angry. I am. It should not be like this, and it doesn't need to be like this. The government has the power to ban price gouging, to make essential services public again, to fix the cost of living and to make the big corporations and billionaires who created this problem pay to fix it. They have the power, but they won't use it, because they're completely captured by their donors and lobbyists. No-one should be skipping meals to pay their rent. The fact that there are people in this country experiencing life like this means the Labor government has failed. (Time expired)