Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to have my full allocation of time and to start my speech again.

Leave granted.

I thank the chamber. People are worried. They are worried about how they will pay the rent or the mortgage. Of those on low incomes, 42 per cent are in rental stress and in danger of being pushed into homelessness. They are worried about whether they can afford a jar of Vegemite or fresh fruit and vegetables. According to Foodbank, 3.7 million households across the country ran out of food last year. Millions of people across the country are doing their best to keep their heads above water, but thanks to the cost-of-living crisis they are drowning in rising cost. People are working harder than ever before but they still cannot get ahead. Almost a million people are working a second job and over half of all gen Z say they need to look for a second job just to make ends meet.

At the same time, big corporations are making record profits. In the last 12 months Coles and Woolworths have made over a billion dollars in profit, a huge amount but it pales in comparison to the $105 billion in profits oil and gas corporations made exporting oil and gas in 2022-23. Even though those corporations made billions, your bills keep going up. Food prices, power prices, rents and mortgages all keep going up while big corporations make massive profits. While millions are cutting back and making sacrifices, one in three big corporations pays no tax. Some of these corporations like News Corp, Exxon, Santos, Whitehaven and Woodside are also paying donations to Labor and Liberal. No wonder so many people say that it is getting harder and harder to tell Liberal and Labor apart.

The Labor government is not tackling the rising cost of living; they are managing perceptions. Labor's bandaid solutions are not going to reduce the rent. Labor can't even bring themselves to say we are in a housing crisis let alone freeze and cap rents, while people set up tents in public parks. They are not going to make food cheaper. They will pay one of their mates to write a report, ignore the findings then claim they have done all they can, while people skip meals and starve. They will claim they have made it cheaper to go and see the GP or a bit cheaper to get child care but the only thing people will be able to tell is they have less money each week and that big corporations keep making more and more money.

Labor's managing the country for big corporations at your expense. They are giving out a bit here and there so they can say they are tackling the issue but it's not enough. It is not working. You don't get claps if you are making the problem worse. It's hard to get a pat on the back when people are struggling to keep their heads above water. It must be galling for someone who is struggling to feed themselves and their family to be told by Labor, who are meant to be the party are working people, they have actually already fixed the problem. It must be frustrating to see your rent go up and up but be told by the Prime Minister you should be grateful for an extra $9 a week in rent assistance, which most renters don't even get. The budget's cost-of-living measures are a joke. They are kidding no-one who is struggling to keep their head above water. It's no wonder people have stopped listening to this government. They don't have time; they have to work!

To those people who are worried about paying the bills, the Green say this: you can't keep voting for the same two parties and expect something different to happen. Labor and the Liberals aren't going to change. More and more they are growing closer and closer together. They don't have your back; they are managing the country for the big corporations at your expense. If you want change, you are going to have to support someone who will fight for you.

The Greens are the only party who don't get paid off by the big corporations which are making massive profits at your expense. We want to take on the big corporations, make price gouging illegal and make the big corporations pay their fair share of tax. We want to stop big corporations making massive profits off the back of these huge prices they are charging you and to restore public ownership of public services like health, education, power and housing. We need real action. We need to make dental care and mental health care part of Medicare. We need to freeze and cap rents. We need to get the government to build homes which can be sold or rented at affordable prices. We need publicly owned renewable power. Band-aids and empty promises aren't going to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. If you want change, you're going to have to vote for it.

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