Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I hear the interjections. We actually kept paying it because they needed the money, and they need the money right now. They need it right now because their power bills are up, their gas bills are up, their mortgages are up, their interest rates are up. They simply can't pay the fundamentals of what it costs to live in this country, because they don't have enough disposable income. Yet this government wants to take more. They want to take more.

If we go back to what happens with me locally, we put out a survey, Hinkler's biggest survey. Eighty-six per cent of respondents were worried about changes on their superannuation savings and the taxation that might affect them. As I have said, 51,000 have lost up to $1,500 in the low-income tax offset. Guess what? The 2021 census says the median weekly income in my electorate is $576. If a loaf of bread is up by 70 per cent, that's a big chunk of your $576. Eighty-eight per cent of respondents to the survey are under pressure on their budget. Eighty-five per cent want affordable and reliable electricity, and 73 per cent, would you believe, are supportive of new nuclear energy, just as an aside. But we have so many people right now who can't pay their rent, can't pay their bills and can't buy the basics, just food.

But what do we see from this Labor government? We see an acceleration of expenditure, $185 billion in the most recent budget. We will look to see what the RBA does at the next interest rate change. They are struggling with their mortgages, those who have them, if they can find a home. What is the proposed solution from those opposite? They're going to bring in another 1.5 million people to this country, 400,000 in just one year. Where will they live? Right now the average construction rate in this country is around 200,000 homes a year. Sometimes it's lower; sometimes it's higher. But they are all struggling. They can't find enough tradies. They are struggling with supply; they simply can't build for demand. It is supply that will fix these challenges, and I urge those opposite to help them.

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