Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

The tactics are obvious. Labor members have been sent in here to talk about the cost of living and to say, 'Keep more of what you earn'—it's all in the talking points. But it's so untrue.

And you know, people outside this building know that Labor doesn't really mean what it says. Labor has just been sent in here to talk it up, but we all know that the cost of living is on Labor's watch and we all know it's Labor's fault. And people out there know that Labor's hardly doing a thing about it.

Look at the number of tradies that we just don't have in our economy today. We're 90,000 short, according to Rob Sobyra, quoted in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald this week that describes him as 'head of research at BuildSkills, launched by the government to address construction workforce' issues.

What's Labor doing about it? Labor talks a big game when it comes to the amount of housing we need. Labor is doing nothing about it. What Labor is doing for our tradies is whacking them with higher prices for their utes. The minister for climate change has had his reins pulled in, in relation to the fuel efficiency standards. It's all on Labor's watch, and it's simply not good enough. The construction industry is absolutely on its knees. So many companies are going bankrupt, and Labor comes in here, just reading the dirt unit talking points. Not good enough, Labor. Start listening to the people out there who are hurting.

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