Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Before I talk about what I want to talk about, I'll mention something that always comes up from those opposite. It is part of their talking points, clearly, this myth that is the $1 trillion in debt that they inherited.

If you look at the budget papers, member for Hawke, you can find that it was $418 billion. About $250 billion of that came from the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government. So if you are going to regurgitate talking points, make sure they are accurate. Don't listen to what the Treasurer is giving you, because it's not accurate. This is what happens on that side. We hear again the talking points.

Government members interjecting—

I will take the interjections because I know they don't like the facts. But the facts are that it was never a trillion. It didn't exist; it was made up, so I will take the interjections from those opposite. We are actually talking about an issue that is significant and serious, and talking points won't cut it. We're talking about the cost of living crisis that Australians are facing and the per capita recession that Australians are going through. Last week, when I was in my community, I was filling up with petrol. I took a moment, by coincidence, to see the price of what the person before me had put into the tank. They had put $30 of petrol into their tank, and they got just over 13 litres for that $30. Let's be honest. In this House sometimes we can put our petrol in and we don't look at it.

Government members interjecting—

They're interjecting again. It's an example of how much Australians are struggling. That's why, when the shadow treasurer asked the Treasurer today about the per capita recession, what was the response from this Prime Minister? This Prime Minister sits in that chair and laughs. He laughs at the Australian people, who are struggling with the cost of living, when they get a question about per capita recessions. It's a laughing matter for this Prime Minister. He sat in that chair two hours ago and laughed at the cost of living per capita recession Australians are going through. Because they've solved the problem with $15 a week in four months time. They're going to give the Australian people $15 a week, which is about 6.5 litres of petrol in my community, in four months time. Problem solved. And you know that it's problem solved because the Treasurer himself has told us. He has told us that's it. Good luck to the Australian people. I'm going to quote from the Treasurer of Australia: 'There will likely be additional cost of living help in the budget.' But it won't be anywhere near the magnitude of the tax cuts, so it's nowhere near $15 a week for the Australian people. He also said, 'We need to be upfront and say any additional help will only be a fraction of that.' Wow. How out of touch are this Prime Minister and this Treasurer, laughing at the cost-of-living crisis, telling the Australian people that $15 a week in four months time will solve all their problems? It is a government that is out of touch. It is a Prime Minister that is not prepared to make the tough decisions.

To show how cynical this Prime Minister and this government are: the member for Hume talked about food banks. Anyone who's taken the time to visit a food bank in their community knows that they're struggling with increased demand and costs going up. They're under significant pressure. Every food bank I speak to in my community is busier than ever.

So what did this government do? I'll give them credit here; I'll give credit where it's due. They gave $14 million to support food banks across the country. Given the cost-of-living crisis that we're seeing under this government, it's better than nothing. But what did they do at the exact same time that they gave food banks $14 million? They committed $40 million to selling their stage 3 tax cuts of $15 a week. So there is $14 million for food banks and $40 million of taxpayer money to sell their tax cuts, which come in in four months. What do you need to sell to the Australian people? Oh, that's right: it's all about the spin. It's all about the politics for this government. They can say what they like, but look at their actions: $14 million for food banks and $40 million to sell their stage 3 tax cuts to hold on in Dunkley and leave the Australian people fending for themselves.

The Treasurer has told us that himself. He's told us there's nothing in the upcoming budget that's worth more than $15 a week. The Australian people have been abandoned by this Prime Minister, this Treasurer and this government. (Time expired)

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