Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy Affordability) Share this | Hansard source

When families are lining up at food banks and they're double-income parents, Australians are hurting. When charities feeding these people can't keep their doors open because their energy bills are skyrocketing, Australians are hurting. When small businesses are paying $15,000 more on their energy bills, Australians are hurting. When families with mortgages are $35,000 worse off, there couldn't be more of a headline that indicates that every single Australian right now is hurting. Under the Albanese Labor government, the cost of living has spiralled out of control. I can say this as I represent a community in Western Sydney that is experiencing this every single day. When we come out of this place and we meet people on the ground, if you walk down the high streets of St Marys or Penrith, they're not talking about what's going on in this place or the politics; they're talking about how much they are struggling to pay the bills.

It's right across the board in every single policy area. The cost of health is up nine per cent. The health minister absolutely slashed Medicare subsidised psychology sessions when people are struggling with the cost of living and need to see a mental health specialist. We know bulk-billing rates are suffering. They are not improving; they are going down under this government. The Daily Telegraph reported today that there is a two per cent drop in bulk-billing rates in Western Sydney. There are also many parts of this country where there are no bulk-billed doctors at all.

The cost of food is up 11 per cent. This is the issue. When you're going to a shopping centre as a member of parliament, people come up to you and actually talk about how much they're struggling to buy their families' groceries. My regional colleagues tell me time and time again how this government is decimating investment across the regions, whether that be the lack of infrastructure investment, attacking agricultural pursuits or making farmers pay tax on imports. Does the Labor Party not understand that these input costs need to be added, which makes food cost more? Education costs are up 11 per cent. We're moving up and up, and it doesn't matter if it is education, if it is health, if it is food or if it is rent. Rent is up 13 per cent.

Housing costs are up 14 per cent, and the government's solution is to try and be a part owner of your house. We've seen this attempted in New South Wales, and only 10 per cent of the places were taken up by participants. Maybe if the government was inclined to let people use their own money, their own super, to help buy a house, that would make some change for our first home owners. Perhaps getting inflation under control would assist too, given the massive increases in material cost for homes.

Petrol prices are really hitting families in Western Sydney. We rely on our cars to get to work, to get to footy training and to get the kids to and from school. Most importantly, do you want to talk about tradies, Assistant Treasurer? Our tradies use their utes to take tools and materials to build homes, to fix roads, to get to the new metro construction sites and to refurbish our much-needed hospitals, yet you've seen this government ram through the new vehicle emission standards without adequate debate. They actually shut down debate. This is just one demonstration of how this government has officially turned its back on blue-collar workers.

And, of course, we come to electricity, which is up 18 per cent, followed by gas, which is up 25 per cent. How do those opposite reconcile this when people are actually struggling to turn on their heaters this winter? Do they remember when Australians were told almost 100 times that their energy bills would be cheaper by $275? Last March, when asked by a journalist if Labor would reach that $275 reduction, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy said: 'Of course. That was what we indicated would be the impact by 2025, which is just next year.' It is absolutely extraordinary.

Small businesses and manufacturers are suffering too, and they want action on greater supply of gas into the domestic market so they can survive. You're talking about Aussie made? Backing our current manufacturers is what's going to continue manufacturing in this country. Small businesses need much more from this government, but it doesn't seem like they get it. Worse still, it seems like they just don't care.

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