Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Much as I like the member for Whitlam and his storytelling capabilities—and I would say he sought to excel himself a little bit today—it's interesting to note that, whilst they are patting themselves on the back, they are presiding over a budget that in the budget documents says that economic growth is going to fall and unemployment is going to rise. Really? Despite the fact they are spending $185 billion, this is a budget that says economic growth is going to fall, unemployment is going to rise and yet they are spending an extra $185 billion. I don't reckon that is a particularly good budget, and why it not a good budget? Because we are seeing everyday Australians hurting as a result of the inaction and failure of this government to address the issues that are facing everyday Australians.

Interest rates have increased again since the budget, for the 11th time since this government took office. We have seen grocery prices rising, fuel prices not coming down, grocery and electricity prices increasing. Despite all they want to say about electricity prices, the one thing they can't say and they haven't repeated since the election is that they are going to reduce your power bill by $275. It is nowhere—nowhere—to be seen. It has disappeared in a mirage. An increase is an increase, and maybe the increase wasn't as high as it would have otherwise been. But it is still an increase, and I can tell you that for people in Queensland their electricity bills are going to go up by another 20 per cent on 1 July. What is this government doing to deal with that? It is doing nothing.

It has been 12 months since they have taken office, and we are yet to see them roll up their sleeves and actually get stuck in and deal with some of the issues that are facing this country. Mortgage holders, renters, small businesses, all sections of our economy are facing the pressures of higher electricity prices and higher input costs, and they are struggling to make ends meet. First home buyers are seeing their dream of ever being able to own their own home slowly slip away. No matter how hard they save, it is one foot forward, two steps back. The Australian dream is slowly becoming a distant dream. Consumer sentiment and business confidence are sitting at recessionary levels. The NAB's monthly business survey along with the Westpac-Melbourne Institute's consumer sentiment survey both show that the household sector remains exceptionally downbeat. That is not a particularly strong endorsement of the budget that was only handed down five or six week ago. As I look at my local electorate, I see the work that our great community organisations are doing to cover for those.

My questions to the minister are: after three separate quarters of inflation, why did the government deliver a budget that included $185 billion of additional spending, rather than reducing spending to combat out-of-control inflation? With inflation out of control under Labor, why did the government decide to remove the words 'The immediate priority is to ensure fiscal policy is not adding to inflationary pressures and to begin budget repair' from the budget's fiscal strategy?

After repeatedly criticising the coalition for funding measures for a set period of time before a review or re-evaluation of the process, isn't it true that Labor's budget does exactly the same thing for policies including: the escaping violence payment; supporting families impacted by violence and at risk of engaging in the child protection system; funding for the Australian Breastfeeding Association's National Breastfeeding Helpline; and funding for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder prevention, among many others? As I said at the outset, this is a budget full of smoke and mirrors, a complete mirage, and does nothing to deal with the issues facing the Australian people. I look forward to the minister's answers to those questions.

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