Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Right now, things are increasingly tough for hardworking Australians who are trying to get ahead. As they approach Christmas, they're making tough decisions as they try to work out how they're going to make ends meet, how they're going to pay for gifts for their loved ones, pay for the Christmas meals and pay for the Christmas holidays. But we know: things are only getting worse right now. We've learned, just in the last week, that Australians have seen the largest fall in living standards of any advanced country in the world—the largest fall in living standards. Of course, economists measure that from disposable income per person, and Australia has seen over the 12 months to June this year a five per cent reduction in those living standards—a five per cent reduction in living standards!

If we compare that to other countries around the world, Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Belgium, Finland and Hungary have all gone forward. We hear from those opposite, on a regular basis, that this is all someone else's fault, that this is all from international factors—that it's all stuff that's happening right around the globe! But the truth of the matter is that we're worse off than all our peers. We're worse than Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Italy, Austria, Ireland, Sweden and Norway—all of them! This is a report card that the economics team opposite must be really pleased with. They must be really happy about this! But let me tell everyone who isn't happy—those hardworking Australians who are trying to get ahead and who are trying to work out how to get through not next year, but Christmas—that sitting beneath those numbers is a truly awful set of underlying numbers.

As we've seen, there have been 12 interest rate increases under this Labor government. They keep telling us that they're going to stop, but they keep going up, time and time again. In fact, Australians are paying for this in their housing costs, in their mortgage payments or their rental costs—it all flows through. And it's going to keep flowing through, according to the markets. If we look at the long-term interest rate, which is a measure of what we expect over the coming years, then, again, we're the worst of the major countries in the advanced world. Australia's long-term interest rate term is sitting on 4.7 per cent. Of course, Australians, whether they're small-business owners or households, pay significantly more than that; that's the underlying rate. The US is below that, as is Italy and South Korea. Spain is down at 3.8, Portugal is 3.4, France is 3.3, the Netherlands is on three, Germany is 2.7 and Japan is down at one per cent.

Before COVID and throughout the period of COVID, we saw long-term interest rates of around one per cent—now we're sitting on 4.7 per cent. This is the handiwork of a Treasurer who simply doesn't have a clue. It's a Treasurer who's a doctor of spin, not a doctor of economics. The doctor of economics has just left the premises—and this one here at the table, the member for Whitlam, isn't a doctor of economics either, I can tell you! But the doctor of spin has delivered these truly awful outcomes.

If we look at inflation then, again, we're amongst the very worst in the world when you look at the advanced countries. Our core inflation is at 5.2 per cent, but Germany is at 4.6, France at 4.6, Italy at 4.6, the USA at 4.1, Japan at 2.8 and Canada at 2.8. Again, we're at the wrong end of the table, and that is a pain that every Australian is paying for, with real wages going backwards. We know that for hardworking Australians on wages, real wages have gone back by six per cent. Again, we see this as amongst the very worst in the world. Labour productivity is in absolute freefall, with a 6.7 per cent reduction in labour productivity since Labor came to government. And we have an economy that is only growing because of rapid population growth—almost half a million people came into the country in the last 12 months. That's the only reason that the economy is growing: we've had two quarters in a row with GDP per person going backwards.

Those opposite try to tell Australians that they're okay, that they're better off. Well, Australians are no better off, because this is a government that's distracted. This is a government that has had its eye off the ball. This is a government that has been obsessed with other issues, when the only issue that has mattered for hardworking Australians is how to make ends meet. That's what they're talking about around their kitchen tables, but it sure isn't what this lot is talking about around their cabinet table. All of this amounts to a monstrous broken promise. Before the election, the Prime Minister said:

Australians are being hit with a triple whammy of skyrocketing costs of essentials, falling real wages and now an interest rate hike. They need a government with a plan to ease the cost of living.

It turns out that this was an extraordinary broken promise. He promised cheaper mortgages on many occasions. Instead of that, what we've seen is the average household with a $750,000 mortgage paying an additional $24,000 a year in mortgage repayments. This is the worst mortgage affordability in Sydney since 1990. I'm old enough to remember the pain that that caused so many people at that time when we saw skyrocketing interest rates.

This is a government that promised a $275 reduction in electricity prices. There's no sign of that. In fact, under this government, we have seen electricity prices increase by 18 per cent and gas prices go up by 28 per cent. More generally, of course, they said there was going to be reduction in the stress on the cost of living, but we've seen food go up by 8.2 per cent. In terms of housing costs, rentals have gone up by 10.4 per cent. The cost of insurance has increased by 17.3 per cent. The price of everything has been going up for hardworking Australians. Charities like Foodbank and Vinnies tell us they're seeing record numbers of families reaching out for help. I've seen this in my own electorate. I've seen it wherever I've gone across Australia. I made a point of going to food banks across this great nation. What we're seeing now is a different set of people going into those food banks. They are often double-income families—the kids will be there—as they simply try to put food on the table. I can be absolutely sure that, in the lead-up to Christmas this year, we're going to see many, many Australians relying on those wonderful services that are provided by so many wonderful Australians across this great nation.

We know that the government's policies have made a bad situation worse. Whilst the Reserve Bank has been trying to put its foot on the brakes, the government has been putting its foot on the accelerator. Former Reserve Bank member Warwick McKibbin has said that the RBA was left to fight inflation with higher interest rates because the government didn't do the work. At the last RBA meeting, Michele Bullock noted that the risk of inflation remaining higher for longer has increased because there is no meaningful plan from this government. At the heart of this is a government that is distracted and is not focused on the job at hand. It has a Treasurer who is a doctor of spin, not a doctor of economics, who writes 6,000-word essays on remaking capitalism. If this is remaking capitalism, I tell you what: leave us with the real thing! We need a government that is focused on those hardworking Australians who are trying to get ahead, getting inflation down across the board and making it possible for them to have a Christmas with their loved ones that they can enjoy without worrying about how to pay the bills.

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