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

The Albanese government have presided over a number of failures in the last two years. They failed on their experiment to get the Voice up. They've clearly failed in relation to the management of the immigration portfolio. But to this day the one that is the most staggering—and the one that is actually hurting Australians the most, I would suggest—remains the way that they are mismanaging the economy.

We saw yesterday that the ABS confirmed that economic growth was just 0.1 per cent over the first quarter of the year and that it had slowed to just over one per cent over the last 12 months. The Treasurer confirmed that the economy is barely growing. That's true, Captain Obvious, because even a doctor of spin can work out, based on that data, that things are hardly moving in the right direction. So many people out there in the community have no optimism left. The Albanese Labor government are all out of answers on how they are going to address this cost-of-living crisis.

Australians have seen their take-home pay shredded by homegrown inflation that has been acted on by the Reserve Bank. The Labor government have added an additional $315 billion in spending since coming to power, but I question what we actually have to show for it. What we know is that the average Australian household with a mortgage is more than $35,000 worse off under Labor than they were two years ago. That's right—$35,000. That has a real impact for young families. It means going without fresh fruit and vegetables in favour of cheaper options. Kids might be missing out on sporting events or learning opportunities. People have had to make sacrifices, and its impacting the quality of life that Australians can enjoy.

Labor's inability to address inflation over the last two years has resulted in persistently high interest rates on mortgages. The flow-on effect for those in the rental market has been equally punishing. After a dozen interest rate rises, how is Labor tracking? The national accounts confirmed that inflation actually increased even further in April. We are literally heading in the wrong direction under this government. Whilst the word 'inflation' is thrown around, the Treasurer himself is quite 'deflated', because he knows that things aren't actually getting any better. While the government delivered a lucky surplus on the back of strong royalties from resources they, ironically, are trying to phase out, they will be back to their large deficits in this coming financial year. With budget after budget ahead relying on a big-spending agenda, how can Australians feel optimistic that inflation, interest rates, their mortgages and the cost of living will ever come down?

This cost-of-living crisis that's gripping our nation is one of Labor's own making. The former coalition government presided over the longest stretch of continuous economic growth in the developed world. Meanwhile, interest rates stayed at historic lows, mortgages were manageable, people got ahead. The Prime Minister and the Treasurer simply do not share the priorities or understand the average Australian. They really just don't get it. In just another slap in the face for Aussies doing it tough and paying record high tax—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12:45 to 13:02

Just before we were interrupted by that division, I was talking about the economic mismanagement of this government. In another slap in the face for Aussies doing it tough and paying record-high taxes, this week we've had it confirmed that the NDIS and social services minister, Shorten, has not only presided over a $40 billion blowout in his department but hired a speech writer for $610,000 over two years. I think someone did the maths on it, and it actually worked out to be $22,000 per speech, which is an incredible service provision at an incredible cost. Australians don't really understand how that can fly when they themselves are doing it so tough. What it really shows is that the Albanese Labor government are clearly out of touch with what's going on with Australians.

See this speech in context