Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm partially glad that the opposition has brought on this MPI, because the safety of Australians and cost-of-living relief are actually priorities of the Labor government. Bizarrely, given they have brought on this MPI, those weren't real priorities of those opposite when they were in government.

I'll explain this. In their 10 years of government, they did not keep Australians safe and they did not, in fact, support Australians with cost-of-living pressures. As usual, it's a Labor government—in this case the Albanese Labor government—that's had to come in and clean up the mess left by the coalition.

We know as a government that cost-of-living is front of mind for Australians right now. We know that supply chain shocks, jumps in global energy prices and economic downturns are impacting billions of people across the world. In turn, this impacts Australians. Every country around the world is dealing with higher inflation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine drove up oil prices and the pandemic caused supply shortages. Inflation is still higher than we'd like, but it's less than half its peak and much lower than the 6.1 per cent we inherited from the coalition. Unlike the Liberals and Nationals, we're actually taking action to relieve the pressure on Aussies finding it hard to get by. The Albanese Labor government delivered a budget focused on cost-of-living support. The focus was to ease pressures on Australians while combating inflation at the same time.

Here are some facts for those opposite who brought this MPI. We increased Commonwealth rent assistance by 25 per cent—that's $4.6 billion back into the pockets of renters, we delivered cheaper medicines, we waived $3 billion of student debt, we delivered a tax cut for every taxpayer, we expanded government funded paid parental leave, we provided a $300 energy bill relief rebate to every household and a $325 energy bill rebate to every small business in the country. We have invested, and will continue investing, $32 billion in housing in just two short years—probably the biggest investment ever, and certainly the biggest in over a decade—to build more houses. We've delivered three consecutive increases to the minimum wage since coming into office, and we've helped 2.6 million Australian workers. Everything we're doing is helping keep inflation at bay, and the ABS data shows that our cost-of-living relief took half a percentage point off inflation just this year.

Our policies have had a direct and positive impact on all Australians, lowering inflation that was higher under the coalition and putting us on track for a larger-than-forecast surplus. Those on the other side should take a look at the budget they delivered when inflation was on the way up and had a '6' in front of it. They spent more to do less. Even the Nobel-Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said that it was 'unambiguous' that current inflation is not caused by excess government spending.

Responsible economic management is about investing in our economy and investing in our people. But the opposition calls for huge cuts to spending. That's what they want: cuts to basic support payments to older Australians, or wage cuts for some of our lowest-paid workers in the care economy. That's just cruel. Australia's already experienced a decade of neglect and cuts under previous Liberal governments. Australia was left with falling real wages, cost of living pressures and a trillion dollars of debt.

When it comes to our commitment to community safety and security, it is our primary priority. This includes our immigration practices. Our agencies undertake a series of assessments on every application to determine whether an applicant poses a threat to our community. We're not going to be lectured about community safety and security by those opposite—by the opposition leader, a man who released 102 convicted sex offenders and two men convicted of being accessories to murder into the community. We know that the director-general of ASIO has said that there is a direct correlation between violent rhetoric, inflammatory language and subsequent violent action. As elected representatives, as politicians and—I would dare to say—as political leaders, we have an obligation to be careful with our words, because that rhetoric does actually have an impact on communities. We need to ensure our language doesn't negatively impact our social cohesion and doesn't add to the fraying of our social cohesion.

This government is providing genuine cost-of-living relief that doesn't drive up inflation. We're paying back a trillion dollars in Liberal debt with our surpluses, we're delivering an ambitious agenda to support Australians, and we're doing the work necessary to keep Australians safe. (Time expired)

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