Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Not one, not two, not three, not 10, not 15, but 20 warnings! The previous government were blind to the needs of working families. The Howard-Costello government just refused to act—six official interest rate rises in the last term of government, and they refused to act. Australians are entitled to feel ripped off. The coalition spent 11½ years masquerading as the masters of economic management, but we now know that to be a complete fraud. While enjoying the spoils of the Hawke-Keating realistic economic reforms—tough reforms—the Howard government failed to address the skills crisis, failed to act on infrastructure for the future and failed to take any meaningful measures to ensure housing affordability. What was their No. 1 economic reform, as mentioned previously by my colleagues? Only one: Work Choices. Now the members opposite treat the Work Choices policy like something they stepped in—they want to get as far away from it as possible. The previous government cared so little about housing affordability that they did not even have a housing minister and contributed very modestly to public housing. Instead, they filled the pockets of private landlords through rent assistance. It was shameful.

The Reserve Bank cash rate now stands at seven per cent. Of course, this means many families are now paying more than nine per cent on their mortgages—and when I say ‘nine per cent’ I am not talking about the Leader of the Opposition’s approval rating! In my electorate, in mortgage belts like Moorooka, Salisbury and Eight Mile Plains, they are really doing it tough. Every rate rise is a kick in the guts for families already struggling to make ends meet. I read in the Sydney Morning Herald today that some families are going without meals and basic health care just to cover skyrocketing rents. That is shameful. That should be contrasted with the economic legacy of John Howard and Peter Costello—I beg your pardon, I should have said ‘the part-time member for Higgins’—who said Australian families have never been better off.

See this speech in context