James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Waste Reduction) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak in favour of the second reading of the Social Services and other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024. The member for Deakin, our lead speaker on this, has articulated that the coalition will support this bill that effectively puts in place a range of measures that were announced in the budget, particularly around increases to rental assistance and expansion of eligibility for a number of supports that are an important part of the social safety net that we have in this country.

But it is disappointing that, despite what the measures in this bill will do, they won't come anywhere near close to helping close the gap that has opened up so dramatically around cost-of-living pressures for all Australians since this government came to power, not only those who will receive assistance through the measures in this bill but more broadly. I remind the House that, since coming to power, the increases have been quite dramatic on pretty important elements of the household budget. Food is up by 11 per cent, housing is up 40 per cent, rents are up 13 per cent, electricity is up 20 per cent, gas is up 25 per cent, health is up 11 per cent, education is up 11 per cent and financial insurance is up 15 per cent. We know that inflation has been running rampant under this government. Those dramatic increases have brought about serious impacts around the kitchen table. When families are getting together and talking about what they'll do and how they'll make ends meet as all these cost are going up, they have to make significant sacrifices and difficult decisions. They have to cancel family holidays and pare back on some of the pleasures that bring families together, such as maybe going out for a meal together as a family at the local pub every Friday night or whatever the things are that people do that, unfortunately, with all these other cost pressures and the dramatic increase in their costs versus their income earning, they cannot do as much as they used to be able to with their pay packets. That's putting a lot of pressure on families.

Its disappointing that the government's not really addressing any of the fundamental drivers of that, because inflation is now going up again.

The monthly figures, which I recognise use a slightly different methodology to the quarterly ones, now have inflation accelerating again and, ss the shadow Treasurer pointed out in the debate earlier in the chamber, we have the stickiest inflation. Of course that's very concerning for people on a mortgage. It was very concerning to hear the evidence of the Reserve Bank governor today in Senate estimates. She was talking about the fact that the Reserve Bank will, if need be, continue to increase interest rates. It will have to do that if the government isn't providing the support on the fiscal side that's necessary to help take the pressure off the inflationary forces in our economy right now.

There are lots of mixed messages coming from the government about what they're doing. I think in one of his answers today, the Treasurer talked about the merit of the budget playing an expansionary role because GDP had come in at such a disappointing read today: 0.1 per cent for the quarter. And there were others talking about how fiscally responsible the government is being and how contractionary they are by having a surplus in the current year. These conflicting messages are very confusing, because they leave the Reserve Bank in a difficult position if it has to do all the heavy lifting in taking on the most concerning destruction of people's wealth and capital—inflation. It's absolutely insidious.

The measures in this bill are supported by the coalition; of course, this bill is talking about providing support for some of the most vulnerable Australians right now. But the best support this government could give is to address inflation properly through the policy settings available to the government. That's because anything, any benefit that comes from this bill, is going to be completely eroded away if we continue on the pathway that we're on right now. With those comments, I commend the bill to the House.

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