Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On cue, the wet blanket speaks up! Remember the industrial relations legislation and all the catastrophising of those opposite. They delivered a conga line of jeremiahs. There were 128,000 days lost under them and 7,700 lost under this government.

We know inflation figures were the highest they've been this century. Inflation was 2.1 per cent in the March quarter of last year; in the June quarter of this year it's 0.8 per cent. And, of course, the Albanese Labor government was able to deliver a surplus of around $20 billion, which can go to paying off some of that interest, something the previous Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government couldn't do. They made the mugs to celebrate, but they weren't ever able to deliver. This is cost-of-living relief against the backdrop of high global and domestic inflation.

The Albanese government's focus is on supporting household budgets, without adding to inflation. We don't forget that those opposite pushed their foot hard on the inflation accelerator in their last budget. Remember: inflation takes the most from those with the least, the ones we should be looking after.

When it comes to support measures for the households in Moreton that are doing it tough, let's look at the track record of those opposite. We know they like sitting on their hands, because that's what they did when they were in government, but they've dragged that practice onto the opposition benches. The opposition leader, the Hon. Peter Dutton, voted against cheaper child care. The opposition leader, the Hon. Peter Dutton, voted against cheaper medicines. The opposition leader, the Hon. Peter Dutton, voted against affordable and social housing. He talked about the community groups he'd had meetings about housing with but then voted against the Housing Australia Future Fund. The opposition leader, the Hon. Peter Dutton, voted against strengthening the social safety net. The opposition leader, the Hon. Peter Dutton, voted against energy price relief—can you believe that? This is a leader who's focusing on the politics, never the people. As soon as you put the people of Australia last, for the sake of your party, you've lost your way and you've lost your direction.

House adjourned at 20:00

See this speech in context