Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

I'm going to do one, thank you, Assistant Minister for the Republic; just your title probably says it all—'cut power bills by $275 a year.' There's no asterisk. There's no saying that it's going to be by 2025 or during that particular financial year. It just states that they're going to reduce power bills by $275 a year, and those opposite know it was a fib.

Here's a policy from the member for Kingsford Smith: 'We will reinstate the money that your government has ripped out of regional Australia.' Regional Australia, which carried—

Government members interjecting—

I was silent while you spoke, so give me due respect by doing the same. You have ripped money out of regional Australia and the country areas which carried the burden during COVID-19 through resources and those things the Treasurer says that we sell overseas. I'll name them. They're gas, coal and iron ore. Labor demonises those industries. Then, of course, there's agriculture.

What we will do—and here's a good policy to start with—is reinstate the money that you have stolen out of the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program. We will restore the Stronger Communities program, which has helped electorates right across this nation, not just in regional areas.

Regional areas are particularly doing it tough. I have an anecdote from my own home town of Wagga Wagga, where a charity has been stretched to the limit as more and more people cry out for help amidst the crippling cost-of-living crisis. But don't just take my word for it. It was on the front page of my local paper, the Daily Advertiser, on 20 May. It talks of the Salvation Army's welfare arm, Doorways. It's been inundated with people seeking financial assistance to pay bills and trying to get basic necessities. The lady there, the program coordinator, Jen Cameron, said, 'On a daily basis we're seeing an increase in those who have never received support before.' She said that service providers, including herself, are getting mentally exhausted by the sheer demand at the moment. She quoted people of all ages who are struggling, recalling an 18-year-old woman whom Doorways has recently started working with. She has no transport, no microwave—nothing to even cook with. And of course as the cold winter months are about to set in, this problem is only going to be exacerbated.

The recent federal budget was a real missed opportunity for families and businesses right across Australia, particularly in the regions. At a time when cost-of-living pressures are mounting, the budget did nothing to provide relief for those struggling to make ends meet. But, prior to the election—

And Member for Hawke, I know you were a secretary of the labour movement. I'm not quite sure whether you're really in touch with those people who are doing it tough. But let me tell you: 97 times prior to the election the now Prime Minister promised that there would be reduced power bills. Well, he knew in his heart of hearts that that wasn't going to occur, and you all know that it has not occurred. Yet we get the minister for power increases, the member for McMahon, coming to the dispatch box and talking about lowering power prices, when we know that is the complete opposite. These reductions have not occurred, and it is hurting everyday, ordinary Australians. It is hurting small business. More than 150,000 small businesses—and this is just in New South Wales—are going to see their electricity bills go up by $1,310 per year. In the same state, we're going to see households' energy prices go up by nearly $600. How do they find that money? They start taking changes to their lifestyle—they don't take their kids to sport; they don't do the sorts of things that they would normally do, because they have to pay for the increased power costs.

When the coalition was in office in our last term, power prices went down by eight per cent for households, 10 per cent of businesses and 12 per cent for industries. But we see those opposite coming in here, talking a big game about manufacturing, talking about producing things here, yet doing the exact opposite. They're sending their emissions offshore, they're sending businesses offshore and they're sending companies broke. And this is happening right across Australia. They're doing nothing about it, yet we hear the 'minister for the republic' asking, 'What's a policy?' Well, I'll you what a policy is: start protecting regional Australia, start sticking up for families, start doing everything you said you were going to do prior to the election but have neglected since. That's what you should start doing, and you should start doing it now.

See this speech in context