Andrew Charlton (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In this MPI discussion the member for Moncrieff and the member for Mallee have spoken about the pressures on Australian families—from energy costs to mortgage payments and childcare costs. They are right—Australian families are doing it tough. Inflation takes the most from those who have the least to give, and many Australians are suffering the triple whammy of high inflation. They are suffering, first, from higher prices; second, from higher mortgage interest rates driven by those higher prices; and, third, from an erosion of their real wages as the prices take away their purchasing power. That is why this government—and I acknowledge the work of the Assistant Treasurer and the Treasurer—has made inflation its core focus.

What those families suffering from inflation want and what all Australians want is real help. They don't want grandstanding in this parliament, political pointscoring and slogans. They want real help with the pressures they face every day. Let's go through each of those pressures, what they really mean to Australians and what's really happening.

The first is health. They're right that the cost of health is going up. The health component of the CPI was up 4.9 per cent over the last year. This is a big expense for many people. We should note that it went up a massive 37 per cent under the coalition government between 2013 and 2022—a 37 per cent increase in the health component of the CPI. Health prices rose by 2.3 per cent in the last quarter of the coalition government. That was the last figure they left us with on a quarterly basis.

The happy news is that in the very last quarter, the most recent quarter of the Albanese Labor government, the health component of the CPI has been flat—in fact, it is very slightly negative. The coalition delivered 37 per cent increases in health costs over the period of their government and left us with a quarterly number of 2.3 per cent, but it is now just slightly below zero. That's good news for Australian families. We've acted on that: $3.5 billion to triple the bulk-billing incentive, immediately benefiting 85,000 people in my electorate of Parramatta; and 60-day prescriptions so that Australians save on their prescriptions and have to go to the doctor less frequently, helping nearly 37,000 people in my electorate of Parramatta.

Not only did they leave us with incredibly high inflation in health; they are voting against many of these measures. Why? Because they don't care about actual solutions; they just want a political dividend.

Let's go to energy, another significant area of concern for many Australian families where costs are rising significantly. What did the coalition government leave us with in their last quarter of the CPI in energy? 6.3 per cent, quarter on quarter. What was the most recent quarter of the Albanese government, the quarter that has just passed; the latest print? The CPI for gas in June 2023 was -1.2 per cent. We've gone from 6.3 down to -1.2. Why is it coming down? Because of energy price relief, because of the gas policy to keep prices down. We've acted very directly to support people with rising energy costs. They, of course, left us with rising costs and then opposed the measures to resolve it.

Let's go to the third one: housing. Housing costs have been increasing significantly right across Australia for many years. In my electorate, 30 per cent of people are in housing stress, which means that more than one-third of their disposable income is going to meet interest payments, rent payments or other housing costs. During the last government, the CPI on housing increased by 20.2 per cent over their years in government. In the last quarter of the coalition government, what did they leave us with? Again, they left us with CPI and housing running at 2.7 per cent quarter on quarter. Now, a familiar pattern: what is the last quarter of the Labor government? What has the Albanese government just printed on the housing CPI? 0.8 per cent. They left us with 2.7, quarter on quarter, and it's now down at 0.8. Once again, this government is acting. It is reducing the pressure on families. In my electorate, $32 million was shared with the New South Wales government to build social and affordable homes in North Parramatta, part of the $575 million in the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation.

Let's move on to food. Again, going up a lot. The food CPI went up 20 per cent in the period of that coalition government from 2013 to 2022. In the last quarter they left it running, on a quarterly basis, at 2.8 per cent, the last print of the Morrison government. The latest quarter of this government was 1.6—down from 2.8 to 1.6. This government has been acting on every element of the CPI. We've actually been taking pressure off families, and the numbers show it.

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