Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

When he was in opposition, the now Prime Minister made all kinds of promises. He promised that life would be cheaper under him: there would be cheaper power bills, cheaper mortgages and much else. But, 2½ years later, the reality is very different from his promise. Power bills were supposed to go down, but they've gone up and up—in some cases, by $1,000 per household. Mortgage rates were supposed to go down. In fact, they have gone up and up and up. The cash rate is up by 12 times under this government, and a typical household with a mortgage is now paying up to $30,000 extra a year. We are seeing prices going up, across the board. Education is up 11.2 per cent, since the election. Food is up 12.3 per cent, housing is up 13.1 per cent and gas is up 33.8 per cent. Core inflation, in the year to the September quarter, is at 3.5 per cent, well above the Reserve Bank's target range, and homegrown inflation is running at seven times imported inflation.

This government doesn't seem to know what to do to get it under control. We've got a Treasurer reduced to playing accounting tricks, handing out on-budget subsidies to try and disguise the fact that the underlying price of electricity is up by 30 per cent since Labor was elected. It's time to stop the excuses, Prime Minister and Treasurer, and get the cost of living down, like you promised.

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