Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to raise my grievances in relation to a number of issues, in particular the current state of the economy and the stress of the cost-of-living crisis impacting so many. Inflation remains sticky at 3.8 per cent, above the target range of the Reserve Bank. Interest rates are also high for many, putting pressure on household budgets. Food prices have risen sharply in the last three years, fuelling cost-of-living pressures and food insecurity. Affordable housing is becoming a thing of the past. Small businesses are being suffocated by red tape, and many face the threat of closure. There have been some initiatives of late to provide cost-of-living relief, like the stage 3 tax cuts coming into effect, cheaper medicines and energy bill relief. But the sticky tail of inflation still means many in the community feel like they are falling behind—and they are. I should note that very few in this place are in fact addressing one of the biggest drivers of inflation—the incredible rise in insurance costs, and those insurance costs being incredibly driven by increasing risk, which is driven by our changing climate and warming; I will have more to say on this.

In relation to housing, the government is not thinking quickly or creatively enough about how to further drive down costs for Australians. All the policies to date are focused on supply. While increasing supply is of course essential, this is not a short-term fix. Supply will take years to achieve, and in the meantime the government has resisted all other policies that could increase the availability of supply in the short term other than just from a construction model. Rental inflation is expected to go as high as it was during the 2008 global financial crisis, and remain elevated until 2026. This puts pressure on the around one-third of Australians who rent. In Warringah, nearly 35 per cent of residents are renters. We know new dwelling approvals are declining just as our housing shortage is reaching crisis levels. A lot needs to be done.

As I've called for previously, we also, whilst looking at those challenges, need to address the increase in climate risk. We need to make sure that we, whilst putting measures in place, incentivise landlords, home builders and people in regional and rural communities to decarbonise. It is absolute folly if we continue building as we have and do not address the risks that are increasing already.

We need to urgently assist households to get off gas. How many times have I sat in this place and listened to absolute exaggerations in relation to gas, all because of stakeholder interest and political gain. Some of the things I've had to listen to in this place beggar belief. We absolutely must help households get off gas. They are inflationary prices impacting their bottom line. We need to help households to get to rooftop solar and batteries and to electrify their cars, water, home heating and, in particular, cooking. That has huge health benefits but also cost-of-living benefits. They will save huge amounts of money. The input is from nature; the input to all those devices is free. Whilst we currently rely on systems like gas and petrol that are all inflationary, that are hurting households, if we can assist households to get off all those mechanisms or current fuel sources we will in fact address inflation and help households with the cost of living.

Decoupling energy from fossil fuels will deliver savings and provide Australians with energy independence and protection from inflationary pressures. That is why the big legislation in the US is called the Inflation Reduction Act. But there is very little conversation about that here from the government, and certainly not from the opposition.

By helping households to decarbonise, we can reduce the average energy bill by around $1,100 to $1,800 a year with rooftop solar. That saving goes up by around $500 to $1,600 simply through having more efficient electrical appliances, and by even more if you add insulation to and improve energy efficiency in homes. But the government has been slow on the uptake in this regard. We could be doing so much more than we are. And, whilst we hear criticism from the opposition around inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, we see no solutions and certainly no acknowledgement that with decarbonisation and electrification of households come cost savings that help with the cost-of-living crisis.

The Household Energy Upgrades Fund announced in the 2023 federal budget took a year to begin disbursing funds, such as the $60 million for the provision of low-interest green loans for residential energy efficiency upgrades. That is just too slow. We are of course still seeing households struggle, and it takes so much time for them to get access to this funding.

Similar to households, small businesses are suffering enormously from high interest rates and high and rising insurance costs. I've had so many emails from local businesses concerned about the rate of increase in the cost of insurance for their businesses; high energy prices; staff shortages; and low consumer confidence. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They make up 97.3 per cent of businesses in Australia. In Warringah, they are a vibrant hub of economic activity. We have over 8,000 small employing businesses, with another 12,000 sole traders. But right now 43 per cent of small businesses are not breaking even.

In March this year, COSBOA reported that a thousand businesses became insolvent, the worst number on record since 2015, yet there hasn't been anything to address that from the Minister for Small Business or the Treasurer that could give the sector and small-business owners any confidence that they have the attention of the government.

Small-business owners are paying themselves less than the average salary and are working longer than the median hours of work just to keep the lights on. The most recent numbers from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry paint an even grimmer picture. Forty-five per cent of small businesses have considered closure in the last 12 months, 82 per cent of small businesses said red tape is having a major or a moderate impact on their operations, and 50 per cent of small businesses said the overall impact of red tape has increased in the past 12 months.

I've been critical of the government over its successive IR changes and the difficulties with the small-business provisions. They do impact the efficiency and the economic viability of so many small businesses. Small businesses urgently need relief, but unfortunately, of late, that sense of urgency is nowhere to be seen from the government—nor, I should say, from the opposition.

Everyone comes to this place claiming to be here on behalf of small business, but whether they are in government or in opposition there are no solutions being put forward to actually help small businesses. It's this sense of policy malaise that continues to turn so many voters away from the major parties—and we're going to see this accelerate as we get closer to a timeline for the next federal election. There are lots of promises, but what we really need to do is look at the record: what has been happening over the last few years, and who is actually delivering any real outcomes for those that are hurting?

I should also say that the way the major parties are conducting themselves is quite telling. During this cost-of-living crisis, when Australians and small businesses are looking for assistance, what has been reported and leaked to the media over the last several weeks is that, in considering the 'once-in-a-generation reform' of our electoral laws, the core element seems to be to amend donation limits and increase public funding for, essentially, the major parties.

It is ironic, during this cost-of-living crisis, when Australians are crying out for support, that the focus of the government at the moment appears to be on making electoral reforms in relation to donations—putting in place spending caps and donation caps—to entrench the incumbency advantage for the duopoly of the major parties while making up for that lost income through increasing public funding. Voters are deeply cynical about that and will, I think, see through it as they abandon the major parties and look for alternatives and to the crossbench, which is swelling. I encourage communities to think about that. Are your representatives genuinely putting in the representation and putting forward the arguments that benefit your community, as opposed to a party view, or are they just taking power or holding on to power?

We know that many are feeling the pinch from prolonged inflation and rising costs in housing, power bills, insurance and groceries. It's galling to see now that this proposal has been floated. Of course, the community overwhelmingly have said that what they do want is politicians to hold themselves to the same standard as exist in Consumer Law when it comes to advertising. Voters of all persuasions have said they want truth in political advertising—they want protection so that they can't be scammed of their vote by lies and political advertising. The big question for the government, when it reveals its legislation, will be: will they respond to the call of the community? (Time expired)

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