Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Hansard source

Two hundred and seventy-five dollars could help with the groceries for a family, but filling up that trolley costs so much more since Labor's been in. Two hundred and seventy-five dollars could help pay the kids' sports fees. Two hundred and seventy-five dollars is the broken promise of this Labor government to every single Australian. You can't delete that broken promise, because the Prime Minister said it 97 times before the election. The Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy talk about Russia's disgusting invasion of Ukraine as a excuse for power bill rises, but they forget to mention that they kept committing to a reduction in household energy bills by $275 after the invasion began.

It's not only households which are suffering right now with cost-of-living pressures and energy prices skyrocketing because of this Labor government's failed policies. It's businesses, including small businesses. I asked the Prime Minister a question recently in question time. I said to the Prime Minister:

Zokoko, a local chocolate manufacturer in my Western Sydney electorate of Lindsay, has seen their energy bill rise by $4,000 per quarter. The owner, Dean, says that this budget won't make much of a difference because he's still going to see his energy costs continue to rise.

They're not going to stop at $4,000 more; they're going to continue to rise. And, extraordinarily, the Prime Minister came back and said: 'There is support for small and family businesses to tackle immediate pressures. We have an instant asset write-off'—an instant asset write-off that we set in place at $150,000, which this government has cut to $20,000! How is that helping small businesses? He also went on to say, 'This budget has provided welcome breathing space for households and small businesses in the form of energy relief.' What a joke! Even the Australian Energy Regulator recently said that energy prices will skyrocket. There is no relief when something is skyrocketing—by around 25 per cent for many Australians from 1 July.

This is a kick in the guts for every single family in my community in the electorate of Lindsay in Western Sydney, and, indeed, for the entire country. Households are seeing their earnings evaporate so quickly now, with ever-rising interest rates on their mortgages, food prices rising and fuel costs. The impact of rising energy prices, too, will be further economic hardship, in my community and right across this country. I've had constituents come into my office in tears because they are struggling to pay their bills. Having $275 in their pocket would really make a difference. And they're very aware that this Prime Minister has broken his promise to them. They will not forget. The people of Lindsay do not forget.

This contrasts to what we did when we were in government and power prices reached their lowest level in eight years. In just two years under our government, power prices fell by eight per cent for households, 10 per cent for small businesses and 12 per cent for larger businesses. The previous government did this by putting the interests of energy consumers first and focusing on the delivery of affordable and reliable power. Instead of focusing on the needs of Australian families and businesses doing it tough, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy have introduced yet another carbon tax with their changes to the safeguard mechanism, which will make the cost-of-living crisis even worse.

These increases that we are facing will see households pay increases of between 20.5 per cent and 28.7 per cent, with New South Wales, my home state, increasing by 24.9 per cent. Where are Australians going to find the money to cover these costs? I have people, as I said, crying in my office. They can't afford the prices now. It would be a great question for the Prime Minister to answer: how are they going to get that extra money?

I visit my local manufacturers all the time, and they tell me that they're at threat of closing. One manufacturer told me that their energy bills are up 200 per cent. This means hundreds of local jobs will be lost. When we were in government, we worked so hard to build our local jobs. Having a job close to home and not having to travel out of area is something so important to people in Western Sydney. We will see prices continue to rise under this Albanese Labor government, to the detriment of households and small businesses right across Australia.

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