Cameron Caldwell (Fadden, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak to the growing pain that's being endured by Australians under the leadership of this Albanese Labor government. It has been two years since the Labor government was elected. They promised a $275 reduction in your power bills, they promised cheaper mortgages, and they promised to make Australian families better off. The Albanese Labor government have now had three budgets, but the decisions they've made have just made it harder for families and for our communities. Labor are failing Aussie families, and small businesses in particular. They are doing it really tough. Put simply, Labor's promises have been broken.

As the Reserve Bank Governor has noted, our inflation is now largely homegrown. It's what some of us like to call 'Jimflation'. Under Labor, Australia's inflation is worse than the US, Singapore, Germany, Spain, Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, South Korea, Canada, France and the entire Euro area. It's worse because of Labor's weak economic management, including $315 billion in extra spending, a 5.4 per cent fall in productivity and, of course, the dangerous renewables-only energy policy that is driving up power prices. After two years of Labor, a typical family with a mortgage is now more than $35,000 worse off. Australians know that despite the Treasurer's spin—and perhaps he is a doctor of spin—prices have increased by nearly 10 per cent, with increases for many essential items well beyond that. Housing is up 12 per cent. Rents are up 12 per cent. Electricity is up 18 per cent. The list goes on.

While Australians are struggling to pay mortgages and rents, Labor is making the housing crisis worse by bringing in a record 1.67 million migrants over the next five years. While immigration continues to soar, Labor isn't delivering enough houses. Labor is always focused on the wrong priorities. A distracted Labor government has also just delivered one of the most irresponsible budgets in living memory according to several senior and respected economists. Labor's budget fails the economic tests and, more concerningly, it was a self-styled 'quintessentially Labor' budget. That is something that every Australian should be concerned about because when Labor can't manage its budget, it makes it much harder for Australians to manage theirs.

In these uncertain economic times, we needed a budget that went back to basics. This means a budget that restored our standard of living by finally addressing inflation and the pressures being felt by families at the checkout and with their energy bills. A budget that restored prosperity and created opportunity by supporting small businesses and helping young Australians into a home. A budget that restored budget discipline and honesty by restraining spending, bringing back the fiscal guard rails, a tax-to-GDP cap and delivering a structural surplus, not a windfall surplus. Labor's third budget has failed on all these tests.

But since coming to government they have managed one thing, one really big thing: 36,000 more bureaucrats in Canberra. They've also managed to spend nearly $500 million on a divisive and failed referendum. And they have managed to break promises and raise taxes. Believe me, when Labor run out of money they will come after yours.

As I highlighted earlier, Labor's decisions are making inflation even worse. Under Labor there has been an additional $315 billion of government spending. Extra spending doesn't take pressure off inflation; in fact, it makes it worse. It's the phenomenon that I like to call 'Jimflation'. The RBA Governor has confirmed that inflation is homegrown. It means that the Reserve Bank knows full well, as we all do, that inflation is a direct consequence of Labor's bad decisions and wrong priorities.

Despite their lofty statements prior to the last election, Labor have trashed our standard of living. Over the last two years of the Albanese Labor government, family budgets have been smashed by higher prices, higher mortgage repayments and higher taxes. Ask yourself this simple question: am I better off today than I was two years ago under a coalition government? Across the electorate that I represent everyone knows that they are worse off under Labor.

There is nothing in the current budget that restores what has been lost. Families and small businesses are feeling the impact of Labor's failures. And while Labor has floundered in government, a Peter Dutton led coalition team has a plan to get Australia back on track. Coalition governments know how to manage the economy and secure our borders. We will remove the complexity and hostility of Labor's industrial relations agenda, which is putting unreasonable burdens on businesses.

Just on the weekend, at the Sanctuary Cove boat show, I was talking to a major local boatbuilder, who said, 'These new IR laws are going to destroy us.' I asked, 'Well, what about your power bills?' They said that their power bills had doubled in the last five years. It's quite extraordinary, what has been going on under this terrible Labor government.

The coalition has vowed to extend the value of assets eligible for the instant asset write-off to $30,000 and make this an ongoing and permanent feature for small business. We will simplify approval processes and cut back on Labor's red tape, which is killing mining jobs and entrepreneurialism. We will provide lower, simpler and fairer taxes for all, because Australians should keep more of what they earn. Importantly, we will ensure that Australians have affordable, reliable and consistent power.

We will also revitalise the Australian homeownership dream. I see the struggle of aspiring homeowners all too often in the electorate of Fadden. To address this, we will implement a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents purchasing existing homes in Australia, reduce the permanent migration program by 25 per cent, and reduce the excessive numbers of foreign students studying at metropolitan universities, to relieve stress on the rental markets in our major cities. We will work constructively with all levels of government to increase supply.

After two years of Labor leadership, not many people are feeling more financially secure, safer in their communities or better off. With less than a year to go until the next federal election, it is clear that the Prime Minister has been distracted and doesn't have any solutions. Only a coalition government can return us to economic prosperity and restore our standard of living.

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