Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

How pathetic. Who puts forward an MPI about the economy and then gets to the ninth minute of his speech and realises he hasn't mentioned it yet? He read out a couple of little token dot points before he got back to his main business of trying to divide this community. At a time when we've got no shortage of economic and social challenges, his main game and his main priority is to try and set Australians against Australians.

On Wednesday I experienced a profound moment of solidarity with the member for Hume, the shadow Treasurer, and that was when the Leader of the Opposition tried to stop me talking about the economy. This is a very familiar experience for the shadow Treasurer. The member for Hume and I don't have a lot in common, but we do have that in common. The Leader of the Opposition wants neither of us talking about the economy. That's why he relegates the shadow Treasurer to this humiliating silence day after day. It's why we still didn't get any questions whatsoever in this entire week from those opposite on the cost of living, inflation, employment, wages or closing the gender pay gap. There's been absolutely nothing on the economy all week. Doesn't that speak volumes about the approach that is being taken by those opposite?

I want the House and the people who are watching and listening outside the House to understand that this week on this Labor side of the parliament, under Prime Minister Albanese and our team, we've advanced our agenda on paying super on paid parental leave. We've advanced our agenda on making multinational companies pay their fair share of tax. We've made progress on the NDIS. We've approved the world's biggest solar precinct. We've advanced our efforts to cut HECS debt for millions of people. We've advanced our efforts when it comes to the net zero authority, and we've strengthened our ties with Indonesia. We've done all of those things while maintaining a primary focus on the cost of living and rolling out substantial and meaningful cost-of-living help in the most responsible way. That's how we've spent our week, and that's how we've spent the last few days of question time. We've focused on the cost of living because that is the No. 1 thing that people are confronting in the communities that we represent.

Because these colleagues are in touch with their local communities, they know that our highest priority is and must be rolling out a tax cut for every taxpayer and energy bill relief for every household, making medicines cheaper, helping with rent, making early childhood education cheaper, paying educators fairly for the important work that they do, getting wages moving again and closing the gender pay gap. These are our priorities, and we have made progress this week.

At a time when the cost of living is the No. 1 issue in our communities, those opposite couldn't care less. That's not just something I say; it's something we know from the fact that on Thursday afternoon, at the end of a long sitting week, not once did they ask us about the cost of living or, indeed, anything about the economy. I've told the House how we have spent our week. The Leader of the Opposition has spent the whole week trying to divide the community, and that's because it's all he knows and all he does. His little dog whistle plays only one tune, and we heard it all week. As I said the other day, when the Leader of the Opposition plays his little dog whistle, the shadow Treasurer rolls over. We saw once again today that the shadow Treasurer is in the doghouse. The Prime Minister has Toto and the Leader for the Opposition has the member for Hume, but Toto has more to offer the economic debate in this country than the shadow Treasurer does.

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