Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The economic powerhouse tree that you inherited from the previous coalition had low unemployment and maintained a AAA credit rating, and this was after a global pandemic. We saw low interest rates and low inflation. And now what's happened since the Albanese Labor government has taken over? We all know that Labor is not good at managing money. You've got form for that. We understand that. But nobody in Australia realised it would be this bad. What has happened to this flourishing economic tree? First of all, you started to ringbark it. You got the chainsaw out and ran the ringbarker straight around, and that was part of the first budget. That was when all the infrastructure projects, particularly up in my neck of the woods, were taken right out. They were totally axed. That's what happens when you don't create dams and when you don't build any infrastructure; there is less productivity.

But that wasn't enough. You decided to get the Tordon out to the tree, and you put the Tordon around it to see if you could kill the economic tree. That was the safeguard mechanism, or—let's call it what it is—the carbon tax 2.0. It's another dagger to the heart of business and of industry. That wasn't enough for the tree, so then you got the Velpar out, and put the Velpar around all the roots. That was the industrial relations policy, which makes it harder for small business.

There's no doubt that the current government is only interested in people who are working for the government or in big businesses that it can unionise. In the end, they got the excavator out, didn't they? The Albanese Labor government got the excavator out and dug all the roots around. That was the final blow for the tree, the recent budget, and then the tree has fallen over. The Treasurer and the Prime Minister have looked at it and gone: 'Holy smokes, look at this. We thought it was really strong but, no, we've killed it.' This budget has fuelled inflation with $185 billion in additional spending.

What has happened since then? There has been another rate rise, which is the 11th rate rise under this government. People in my area with mortgages of $500,000 are paying more than $1,100 extra per month. This is firmly at the feet of the Albanese Labor government. Don't be laughing about it. Do something about it. You're in government. You're supposed to be holding the reins and looking after the Australian people. That's what you're paid to do. In Senate estimates the RBA governor, Philip Lowe, confirmed that this discretionary spending in the budget was expansionary. You're making the situation worse. It needs to be better. Electricity prices are going up. Grocery prices are going up. Mortgages are going up. Take control and look after Australia. (Time expired)

See this speech in context