Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Absolutely; every country was! But here's the question: why have other countries been able to face up to those challenges and manage them better than Australia? That's the important question. Inflation in Australia is higher than in almost every other advanced economy. Those opposite have had two budgets and Australia has suffered the largest fall in living standards of any advanced economy. This is an important point, because other countries have focused on the challenge. Other countries have committed to the promises that they made of addressing inflation and making it their No. 1 focus. What's the difference between Australia and these other countries? A lot of them didn't waste 18 months focusing on a Voice referendum that no-one wanted. A lot of those countries didn't try to take their countries down a path of division when they were warned against that, when the issue confronting every household was the cost of living.

Are you better off today than you were when Labor came into government? This will come back time and time again, because—this is the message to Australians—inflation is an issue for you because it wasn't an issue for this government. They've been focused on other things; they've been focused on the Voice for 18 months, when there were many things that could have been done. I can remember—it was the first meeting with the RBA governor during this term of government—the pleading that monetary and fiscal policy continue to work together as they had under the previous government. We've got to remember that every dollar the government adds to the economy is another dollar that the RBA has to take out with interest rate rises. This is why we're seeing interest rate rises continue and why inflation will continue: because the government continues on its path of spending $185 billion extra. We are now spending more than we were pre pandemic. This is an incredible response from a government at a time of cost-of-living pressures. I've said it many times, and I think everyone here is going to hear this again and again and again: are you better off today than you were when Labor came to government? The answer is a resounding no. Australia knows it, and I'm sure every backbencher here knows it too.

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