Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The economy is the outcome of millions of individuals going about their lives, working hard and trying to fulfil their aspirations. I have lived this experience firsthand. Australians know it's tough right now. Listening to the Treasurer today did not fill me with confidence that our new government has a plan to ease the pressure on the cost of living for my constituents in Casey or, indeed, people all around the country. There are challenging economic circumstances in Australia today. However, we do expect the government to be proactive in their response. We can and will hold them to account for how they respond to it.

Labor needs to put the national interest first. The risk for Australia is that Labor's inaction or distraction will make a bad situation worse. There is no avoiding inflation for households. Nondiscretionary goods and services rose 1.8 per cent in the quarter, to be 7.6 per cent higher through the year. Annual goods inflation is the highest since 1987. Goods accounted for 79 per cent of the rise in the CPI this quarter, reflecting high freight costs, supply constraints and prolonged strong demand.

The government does not have a plan to address this. The Treasurer said that the point of today's statement was to paint a picture of the economy. On this side, we do not paint pictures. We know we are dealing with people's lives. We are talking about small business owners working 18 hours a day to provide for their families and families unable to fill a tank of petrol until the next pay. Fuel price pressure continues to flow through to consumers following an oil price shock caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine last quarter, and this has been coupled with ongoing easing of COVID-19 restrictions, which has strengthened global demand. While the cutting of fuel excise of 22c per litre on 30 March 2022 resulted in fuel prices falling in April, the average unleaded fuel price in the month of June surpassed the previous record high monthly average seen March. While cutting the fuel excise of 22c per litre on 30 March 2022 resulted in fuel prices falling in April, the average unleaded fuel price in the month of June surpassed the previous record high monthly average seen in March. We are talking about young Australians trying to build their first home, students working nights to build a better life for themselves.

The economy isn't some great mystery to us. When the coalition were in government, we balanced the budget for the first time since the 2000s. We were on track to surplus, but then events changed. We had fires. We had drought. We had the pandemic. We had to take action, and we did—even if it meant putting budget repair on hold. That wasn't an easy decision for us as Liberals and Nationals, but it was necessary. Our fiscal response to COVID-19 was temporary, it was targeted and it saw Australia through one of the most challenging periods since World War II.

In my previous career, our business was a firsthand beneficiary of the JobKeeper program. It kept people employed and connected to their jobs. I saw this firsthand. Australians know it's tough right now. They don't need a painting from the Treasurer to tell them that. They feel it every day—at the coffee shop, at the petrol bowser and at the supermarket checkout—and the statement from the Treasurer today provided nothing to address this right now. He gave a list of excuses and he's pushing it off to a jobs summit in September, which doesn't help families today and doesn't help businesses today. Thank you.

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