Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

Talk about leaving a legacy! What a shameful legacy this government is leaving this country already, with a prime minister who looked the Australian people in the eye and lied to them ahead of an election. That is the legacy that is being left by this government. It wasn't just about stage 3 tax cuts. It wasn't just about the Murray-Darling Basin. It wasn't just about the $275 that your electricity bill was going to go down by. It was also when it came to immigration.

Let's have a look at what the Prime Minister said before the last election: 'Albo rules out migrant intake.' 'Anthony Albanese has signalled Labor won't back the return of mass immigration.' In the papers: 'Albo: mass migration is out.' This is the Prime Minister before the last election. This is the shadow minister for home affairs before the last election: 'Do we want migrants to return in the same numbers? The answer is no.' That is the Prime Minister and his opposition before the last election.

What is the reality now? What did the Prime Minister say before the election and what is the reality now? There has been record Australian migration and no effort whatsoever to make sure that housing is in pace with it, no effort to make sure that rents and rent availability is in pace with it, no effort to make sure that congestion doesn't occur by boosting infrastructure and no effort to put more doctors out into communities.

The Prime Minister said one thing before the last election, and, lo and behold, he's done the complete opposite after the election. What has that meant? It's meant that we now have a housing crisis in this country that's making housing unaffordable, particularly for young Australians, and we now have a rental crisis in this country. We've seen rental availability at the lowest level ever in this country. We have young people trying to get rental accommodation turning up, and there are 60 people competing with them for one single room. Try seeing a doctor at the moment. Try and get a GP right across this country. Can you get one? No, you can't.

What about congestion? We saw infrastructure spending cut by this government once they got into office. Instead of those suburbs where we're seeing pressure on growth getting the trains that they need and getting the freeways and the roads that they need built, that's been cut. What is this doing to the lives of everyday Australians? It's making it worse. It's making it harder. It's putting pressure on inflation, which means it's putting pressure on the cost of living, which means it's putting pressure on interest rates, and it's making their lives harder.

What is it based on? It's based on the Prime Minister saying one thing before the last election and doing the complete opposite afterwards. The shameful thing we've seen this week is an arrogant, out-of-touch prime minister come in here and not be apologetic for it. He hasn't been apologetic for saying one thing before an election and doing completely the opposite afterwards.

I'll say this to all those opposite: you might think that you're short-term game is going to help you when it comes to Dunkley, but we and the Australian people are going to remind you of every single broken promise this Prime Minister has made during his time in government. We are going to keep reminding the Australian people that this Prime Minister said one thing before the election on numerous occasions and has done the exact opposite when he's been in power. (Time expired)

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