Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the urgent need for the government to address the cost-of-living pressures on Australian families. I know the member for Oxley gave us a very colourful insight and, coming from Brisbane, I am sure he talks to different families from those I talk to. Everywhere I go—to information booths or in my office—I find there is a great deal of hurt out there and the cost-of-living pressures across the board are great, and the feedback is that is being felt very strongly by all in the community. Whether they are young professionals, students, pensioners or forgotten families, Australians are all feeling the pain and the squeeze at this very moment.

In a recent report, we saw that Brisbane is one of the most expensive cities in the world right now. It is hard to believe that it is worse than New York, London, Rome and Hong Kong.

In fact, according to the latest ranking of 130 cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit, all five Australian mainland state capital cities are more expensive than any major international city, such as Los Angeles, Berlin, Beijing and Shanghai. Sydney came seventh; Melbourne was closely behind in eighth position; followed by Perth, as the 12th most expensive; and Brisbane in the 13th spot. Brisbane's ranking was two spots higher than its 15th position in the previous year. So it is now much more expensive to live in Brisbane.

So you would think that the national government, with all of these cost-of-living pressures on the rise, would be taking action to ease the cost burden on Australians. However, what are we seeing from the Gillard government? We are seeing exactly the opposite. Why make it harder for people? That is exactly what they are doing; they are making it harder each and every day.

If there is one thing that this government can do, it is to take the cost-of-living pressures off Australian families by repealing the carbon tax. As we know, the carbon tax is based on a deliberate mistruth to the Australian people. We remember those hollow words, spoken to the Australian people prior to the last election: 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead.'

Mrs D'Ath interjecting—

The member for Petrie can well interject, but her Prime Minister uttered those words days before the election and her Prime Minister misled the Australian people. Yet we now have exactly that: a carbon tax that is slowly starting to filter through to the Australian economy. It is hurting families; it is hurting consumers. We have seen numerous examples all week during question time of the massive increases in electricity bills to businesses and families.

And let's face it: the whole point of a carbon tax is to raise electricity prices and it is doing that beautifully. If the carbon tax did not raise electricity prices, it would not be doing its job.

Mrs D'Ath interjecting—

Mr Mitchell interjecting—

Members opposite can interject, but the wholesale price of power has doubled because of the carbon tax. The retail price has increased by an average of 10 per cent or more. I gave the example today of the memorial swimming pool in the electorate of Moreton. Their electricity price has actually increased by 15 per cent. Many families are suffering.

Mr Mitchell interjecting—

The member opposite spoke about the wonderful compensation that he and his government are giving to families. It will not be helpful. It will provide minimal relief because of these huge price increases, and any direct compensation from the Gillard government to offset household power bills will not assist the flow-on effect to households. Every business in Australia will have increased electricity prices, and the price of every good and commodity will be passed on to Australian consumers and families.

On the government's own figures, millions of Australian families will be worse off and, clearly, its compensation package will not assist with these massive cost increases. Those flow-on costs and the passing down of increased costs to consumers will hurt everyday families.

Mr Mitchell interjecting—

The member interjects about GST. GST is a fixed amount. Your carbon price will continue to grow year after year and will continue to inflict pain year after year.

Mr Mitchell interjecting—

The member refers to economics. I think he needs a lesson in Economics 101 himself. I have spoken in this House many times about local sporting groups, such as the Wilston Grange Gorillas, an AFL club in my electorate. They, like many other sporting clubs, predominately train of an evening. In Queensland we have got the added impost because we have daylight saving, which means our electricity bills are a bit higher than those of the southern states. Clubs have to train—

Mrs D'Ath interjecting—

Mr Mitchell interjecting—

Members opposite can laugh and they can be ridiculous but the players have to train and because of daylight saving most parents are in the dark longer and that is just a fact. Because of the training schedules of all the players and because of work and school commitments they have to have lighting on the fields, which uses a lot of electricity. The club's monthly electricity bill, following the introduction of a carbon tax, has increased by more than 15 per cent. Over the financial year, this will equate to approximately a $5,000 increase due to the carbon tax. That is a massive amount of dollars for a volunteer sporting organisation, and it is the mums and dads who will wear that increase through higher sporting fees.

Then, to add insult to injury, the government has named Brisbane City Council as one of Australia's top 500 polluters. So the carbon tax will cost the Brisbane City Council $65 million over four years, after the Gillard Labor government branded it as one of the top polluters in the country. I do not know what the logic is of this. The council has purchased 100 per cent green power for its buildings; it has offset its carbon emissions from its public transport and vehicle fleets; it has planted two million trees; and it has protected more than 500 hectares of bushland from development over the past four years by bringing that land into public ownership. So the decision to slug the Brisbane City Council with a carbon tax is a slap in the face for struggling households, because that cost has only one way to go—it has to be passed on to the ratepayers. The 40 per cent rate increase in this year's council budget is because of the government's carbon tax.

The general manager of Communify, Karen Dare, a community organisation based in Bardon in my electorate, recently told me about the increasing number of people coming into their organisation because of the rising cost of living. She has seen a huge number of people coming into their organisation because the cost of rent, power, food and transport has gone up.

Power bills are particularly devastating for people on pensions. They have risen over 20 per cent, but there is no corresponding rise in the pension. In addition, pensioners are particularly vulnerable because they have no opportunity to increase their income. So they are doing it particularly tough. Rising rents, because of increased council rates and utility rates, have led to many people falling behind. Tenants either go without food to pay rent or fall behind and are faced with eviction. Or they end up relying on emergency services or become homeless. The government must do something to address the rising costs of living. The first thing that they can do is remove this toxic carbon tax.

I move on to the private health insurance rebate which, again, has been another area that has been slashed by this government and that is hurting families. In my electorate of Brisbane, 89,920 people are covered by some form of private health insurance. That equates to 72 per cent of the voting population, which is 20 per cent above the national average. Yet this government says these people are rich. Under tier 1, the rebate is slashed by 10 per cent for singles earning $80,000 and for couples earning $160,000 per annum.

Let's get this right: that is a teacher married to a policeman. They are hardworking, forgotten Australians aspiring to success and now their household costs have increased because of the increase in private health insurance premiums through the action of this government.

Another issue which is causing great concern in my electorate is the cuts to occasional child care. This government cut $12.6 million from limited childcare funding in 2010 and the state governments carried the Commonwealth's share. However, due to the poor financial state of the Queensland budget, this cannot continue beyond December 2012. So, unfortunately, childcare centres like Kitchener Road in my electorate are going to have to increase fees to parents.

In conclusion, the coalition is committed to reducing the cost of living for Australians. We will repeal the carbon tax, taking the pressure off electricity prices. We will reintroduce the private health insurance rebate. We are committed to a Productivity Commission inquiry to look at ways to offer more affordable child care. This government continues to hurt Australian families. Australian families are facing increased living costs because of this government's toxic carbon tax. The coalition can offer real relief to families. (Time expired)

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