Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Forde for bringing on this motion. It is indeed a very important issue, probably the most important issue the government are facing, and we've known that since before the election. The cost of living was absolutely at the top of our agenda even before the election. Why? Because the cost of living was getting out of control even under the Liberals, when they were in power, and certainly inflation and interest rates have gone up since. Those opposite might need to remember that interest rates are set by the Reserve Bank of Australia, not the government.

The previous speaker, the member for Longman, said the government needed to say what it was doing. I've made a few short notes here. We've backed in higher wages. For the first time in more than a decade, there's actually a government in control that backs higher wages for workers. I can't think of a single measure that is more important for family budgets than higher wages in the pay packet coming through the door.

We're backing in cheaper child care. That's making a material difference to people who require child care, and it allows parents, usually women, to go back to work for those extra few days because they can afford to do so now.

We've actually made medicines cheaper. PBS medicines have come down from a maximum of $42.60 to $30. It's a material difference in the cost of medicines.

There's fee-free TAFE—a raging success across the country. Those opposite, of course, derided it, dismissed it and opposed it. Fee-free TAFE is a raging success in my state of Tasmania, where, I note, there is a Liberal state government that is backing it 100 per cent. Fee-free TAFE is making a real difference to people, enabling them to get the qualifications they require to go out and get a job.

We've got the strongest jobs growth in Australian history of any new government: 330,000 new jobs in our first year. And, after a decade of inaction and policy failure, we've got energy policy certainty and investment flowing through again.

They are some of the things we are doing. But there's no hubris on this side of the chamber. We know that many families out there are hurting—really hurting—with these interest rate rises, these mortgage rates, and we are doing all we can to provide cost-of-living relief and to make sure we get inflation back into the target range. It is for that reason that our cost-of-living relief measures are being rolled out in such a way as to not add to the inflationary burden. We haven't taken the easy road like those opposite and just handed out thousands of dollars in handouts, which then adds to inflation. We have done targeted cost-of-living relief measures.

What have those opposite done over the past year and a half in terms of contributing to the government's agenda on cost-of-living relief? They've said no to everything. When we proposed energy bill relief, they said no. We managed to get that legislation through the parliament, and it has made a material difference to the upward trajectory of power bill prices. It has made a real difference, and that is reflected in all the stats. So, while we are making policy, creating legislation to tackle the cost of living, those opposite are just saying no.

A few weeks ago I received an email from Josh, who lives in Bridgewater in the south of my electorate. Josh is a young man, married, raising a young family with his partner. He and his wife both work full-time, and they've recently purchased a home with a mortgage that they are paying off. He contacted me to let me know that he is feeling the pressure from the increased cost of living. As a mortgagee and a father he's acutely aware of the pinch being felt across the country by many working families. But there's good news. He told me his family is benefiting from the government's cheaper child care. Because of our cheaper child care policy, Josh and his partner are both able to re-enter the workforce, meaning more income for their family and more productivity for the country. He asked me what else we are doing to bring down inflation and cost-of-living pressures, and I was happy to advise him of the measures I have annotated here today.

This government recognises the challenge of the cost of living on household budgets in this country. It is the No. 1 issue, certainly in my electorate. Tackling inflation is a national effort. Mortgagees are playing their part in bringing down the inflation burden. I'd like to see others in the community, particularly corporations, do a bit more to bring down price pressures, and I'll certainly have more to say on that in days to come.

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