Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

The most urgent issue facing Australian families is the cost-of-living crisis. We see a drumbeat of pieces of evidence for this proposition. Just last week the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted rates for the eighth consecutive time on this government's watch to 3.35 per cent, and of course the actual rates that households pay are much higher than that. The last time interest rates were this high was when Labor were last in office.

The Prime Minister was forced to admit that 800,000 Australians will move from lower fixed rates to higher variable rates over the course of 2023, creating a serious shock to the budgets of many households. If you're presently on a fixed mortgage rate of 1.8 per cent and you're suddenly going to 5.8 per cent, that is a huge cost to the family budget. For a typical family that has entered into a new mortgage of $750,000 that means additional payments of $18,000 a year.

Just think about the likely knock-on effects for local restaurants and clothes retailers—in fact, all across the economy. Reports are showing that an alarming one in five Australian households are suffering mortgage stress, including an estimated more than 100,000 pushed into it after the latest rate rise under the Albanese government.

Many small businesses are in the same boat. The Prime Minister was asked about this very issue in question time. He has failed to tell us how many, but we know that a significant proportion of small businesses will have a loan that will move from a fixed rate to a higher variable rate this year.

We know that rents are increasing. Recent reports show that rental prices are at historic highs across most capital cities.

We know that energy bills are skyrocketing. The government itself admitted in its budget that it expects electricity bills to be up 56 per cent and gas bills to be up 40 per cent over the foreseeable future. We know from the instances that hardworking members on this side of the House have highlighted that Joe and Julie Siragusa, in the electorate of Flinders, are facing a $667 increase in their gas bill. The member for Barker told the House that the food manufacturer Nippy's is facing an increase in its gas bill of 92.5 per cent—$900,000. And today, of course, we learned that unemployment has jumped to 3.7 per cent, with over 30,000 people losing their jobs in the last two months.

So there is no question that this nation and Australian families are facing a serious and pressing cost-of-living crisis. But what do we hear from this government? The telling and grim reality is that this government has no answers or plan. What do they say when they are asked about these issues in question time? What do they say?

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