Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

My good friend the member for Wills and I agree on a couple of things, mainly about how great Collingwood is, but we don't agree on these tax cuts. Like a lot of those opposite, he is very clever with his language. I notice there's been a shift in the ALP's language. They don't do policy well, they can't solve the cost-of-living crisis, they have no answer to inflation and they don't talk about productivity, but what they do do well is politics and word games. The member for Wills gave a great example of that just then.

For the first couple of months during the changes, the backflips and the broken promises from the 'word is my bond' Prime Minister, they were still calling them the stage 3 tax cuts. But, as the member for Wills showed just then, they've merged that and changed them into the 'cost-of-living tax cuts'. Now, the reason they don't like calling them the stage 3 tax cuts anymore is that they like to forget about stage 1 and stage 2, which were part of a broad, holistic, long-term package. But there's a real reason that they hate talking about stage 3. It's that they don't like talking about stage 2. Stage 2 of those tax cuts was the low- and middle-income tax offset, and that gave $1,500 back into the pay packets of every Australian that was on a low or middle income, hence the name.

What those opposite did last year was they let that lapse, and we know that many people felt it. It went viral all over social media—how upset and frustrated people were when putting in their tax returns, wanting to get that $1,500 back, but it was gone because those opposite let it lapse. They were happy to let that measure lapse right when Australians really needed $1,500 in their pocket. But they now pat themselves on the back and say, 'Cost-of-living crisis over—job done. We broke our word, but we're going to give the Australian people $15 a week extra, and that has solved the problem. We'll take away last year's $1,500 and we'll give you $15 a week, and you can say thank you.' We're now at a time when energy prices are through the roof, mortgages are through the roof, rents are through the roof and petrol is on average over $2. Everything is going up, including food and groceries. But this Prime Minister, this Treasurer and those opposite say, 'Fifteen dollars a week—job done.'

This is their problem. The Prime Minister and the Treasurer can try and spin their way out of it, but the Australian people know that this government does not have a plan to address the cost of living, because they're living it every day. Every sitting week in parliament, I'll get to my feet on a PMB, an MPI or another government motion where they're talking about how great they are and the amazing job they've done for the Australian people. That's not what the Australian people are feeling. Maybe the Prime Minister has stopped listening. Maybe the Treasurer has stopped listening. But I haven't stopped listening to my community. I'll continue to share their stories in this House so their voices are heard, and maybe one day those opposite will stand up in caucus and actually have the courage to criticise the Prime Minister and Treasurer and tell them that it's not working, because that's what you should be doing when you're a backbencher in a government—holding them to account. But every media report tells us that not one backbench member opposite raises any questions or issues in caucus.

I'm going to share Bec's story today. I asked her what her biggest issue is, and her reply was this:

Cost of living. We are a young family with two primary school age children. My husband works full-time and I work 30 hours a week. It is so hard to pay for school fees, after-school activities, school excursions, plus all the household bills: a mortgage, petrol, public transport costs. We are a single car family due to cost. We can't afford to get our heating fixed, so we're struggling through winter without heating and I know we aren't the only family struggling.

I could spend hours sharing stories from my constituents, and many on this side could and will. Those opposite move motions patting themselves on the back about how their No. 1 priority is cost-of-living pressure. Well, it's not their priority, because for 18 months the Prime Minister didn't talk about the cost of living at all. For the last six months he's talked about the stage 3 tax cuts ad nauseum, $15 a week, like it's going to solve the problem. He could have acted last year and given Bec and her family and everyone in the community of Casey an extra $1,500, but they let that legislation lapse. And, when you criticise them for it, they say, 'It's not our fault; it was already legislated'—just like stage 3. If you're going to backflip on stage 3, you can backflip on the low-income offset. (Time expired)

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