Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

In fact, I will take that interjection because this Prime Minister wants to talk about anything—anything—except the pressures that Australians are facing in their families and in their businesses. In these last 10 months—a pretty good 10 months, he claims—we have seen interest rates rise for nine consecutive months. These are rate increases we have not seen in this country for 30 years. We have not reached these inflation levels since 1990.

Power prices are going up. We just heard the last DMO—20 per cent increases. The Prime Minister does not even know the difference between the DMO and the Victorian default market offer. He didn't know the answer to that today. He has no idea because, quite frankly, this Prime Minister does not care about the pressures Australians are facing. He does not care at all. This is not his problem. His problem is power. That is what he is interested in—getting into power and staying in power. That is all he cares about. I tell you what, he will have a problem with power in the next couple of years because there will not be a lot of it in this country, the way this government is going with electricity prices and electricity supply. We have also seen in the last 10 months increased taxes. We've seen people on double incomes asking for help from charities to put food of the table. These are families with double incomes, and they're going to charities, in my electorate and elsewhere, because they can't put food on the table. People are being forced to take second jobs to pay the bills. A record number of Australians are turning to Lifeline, and this Prime Minister seriously thinks that it's been a good 10 months under this government. How out of touch is of this Prime Minister?

As I said, interest rates have gone up nine consecutive times under this government, and this latest increase means that a person with a typical mortgage of $750,000 is paying $1,700 more a month than they were before the election. That's $20,000 a year. No wonder we have families going to Lifeline. Quite seriously, this is absolutely diabolical. It's a scary time for many Australians; that's the reality. It is a scary time for many Australians, and when asked questions on this, the Prime Minister stands up, scoffs, laughs and refuses to answer. He refuses to answer because he is an out-of-touch prime minister. The latest national accounts show it is getting much harder for Australians to make ends meet. In fact, we saw interest paid on mortgages grow by 23 per cent during the December quarter. Instead of working in tandem with the Reserve Bank to take pressure off interest rates, the government is putting all of its energy into breaking promises and taxing Australians more. That's its solution to the problem for all Australians—tax them more.

It's clear that the government isn't doing enough to make the Reserve Bank's job easier. Australians, as a result, are facing a full-blown cost-of-living crisis. Data from the Reserve Bank says that 54 per cent of Australians with a mortgage will see that mortgage go from a fixed rate to a flexible rate this year. It is very important for those opposite to understand—it's clear the Prime Minister doesn't understand this; I don't think he really cares—that those on fixed rates have mortgage payments now on an interest rate of 2½ per cent. That's what they're moving from, and then they are going to be moving onto a new rate which is many times that. When he is asked questions on it, the Prime Minister says, 'It's okay. It's been a pretty good 10 months.'

You can look at the broader cost of living. We've seen a report recently from Finder. It says that 43 per cent of consumers are stressed about their grocery costs. It says that one in three Australians have asked friends or families for financial help in the past 12 months. And this Prime Minister wants to talk about everything else, except for that pressure. A total of 87 per cent of parents have had to reduce their spending on at least one expense due to the increased cost of living. Research from Roy Morgan shows us that an estimated 1.2 million mortgage holders—that's 25 per cent of mortgage holders—were at risk of mortgage stress.

I mentioned Lifeline earlier, and it's worth looking in detail at the numbers here, because they've reported an increase of almost 50 per cent in requests for help. There was no empathy from the Prime Minister when he was asked questions on these issues. Canstar's research has shown that 54 per cent of Aussies are losing confidence in the ability of the government to ease cost-of-living pressures. They're giving up on the government, and why wouldn't you? They want to talk about everything else, except for this. Tragically, data from Suicide Prevention Australia shows that 46 per cent of Australians have reported feeling increased pressure as the cost-of-living pressures continue to rise—up from five per cent the previous year.

Honourable members interjecting—

I'm talking about suicide, and I think a little bit of respect is appropriate.

Now, we've heard many real-life examples of all of this this week. The member for Herbert has raised the story of Peter in his electorate, who's having to make a heartbreaking choice between heating and eating. That's where it has got to. The member for Petrie raised the power bills of Kazik and Tatiana, who've seen their bills rise by 72 per cent. The member for Cook highlighted the devastating story of Caruso's Italian, run by Rocky and Kerrin, who, due to the rising costs of doing business, have had to close their iconic small business. It was an absolutely iconic small business. And in my electorate, Kym, the owner of the fantastic Barenz—anyone who has been to Camden on multiple occasion will know Barenz—is seeing fewer and fewer customers. 'You can see the pressures of the cost of living,' says Kym. You can see the pressures of the cost of living.

These are the real stories of Australians struggling right now. These are the tough choices that Australians are having to make. And what has the Prime Minister said in response? Today, on being asked these questions, he simply refused to answer. He refused to take responsibility. He is a prime minister who promised to take responsibility, and the best he can say is: 'It's been a pretty good 10 months.'

See this speech in context