Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Once again, the member for Hume has buried his head in the sand, alongside the Leader of the Opposition and his Liberal colleagues, completely ignoring the world around them so they can spend valuable time in the House bathing in their own reality to make themselves feel good.

Here's a reality check: Australians are doing it tough, and families need help to keep up with the current cost of living. There is not a single person on this side of the House or in the other place that would disagree with this notion. We are taking action to deliver that help, by easing the pressures families are under. Under Labor, inflation is now lower and continues to fall, compared to where it was when this government was elected. Under Labor, real wages are growing again, after going backwards under those opposite. Under Labor, we've had record jobs growth. We've lowered the Liberals' debt by $177 billion, and we have delivered back-to-back surpluses for the first time in nearly two decades.

Let's contrast that to where we were before, under the Liberals. Despite what the member for Hume may tell you, under the Liberals, living standards fell by 3.7 per cent during the nine months leading up to the last election. Under the Liberals, real wages went backwards by 3.4 per cent under their watch, which we now know was a deliberate policy to stagnate and suppress the incomes of everyday Aussies. Under the Liberals, inflation had a six in front of it, when they left office. It now has a two in front of it, under a Labor government. This is the reality, whether the Liberals want to admit it to Australians or not.

There is plenty more to do on this front, though, and this Labor government has never, and will never, shy away from this. Despite the substantial progress I've mentioned, costs are still high, and that is taking a toll on living standards in this country.

Again, Labor continues to take action to make lives easier for everyday Aussies through direct, meaningful policy. That includes a bigger, better and fairer tax cut for every Australian, delivered in July last year, putting an average of $1,217 extra into the pockets of 67,000 taxpayers in my community, where that need for relief is extremely high. That is what raises living standards. What did the Liberals do? They were so appalled at policy that helps families in communities like mine that they wanted an election to take that money from Australian households.

Something else that raises living standards are boosts to housing supply in this country. Labor is doing just that, passing Help to Buy and build-to-rent legislation and embarking on the most ambitious housing program in Australia ever. Guess what the Liberals did? They fought tooth and nail to try and shoot this down. They would rather see fewer houses, fewer chances for Australians to find homes, higher rents and higher mortgages because they don't care about living standards in this country. In fact, every time this Labor government has introduced relief to the household budget, every time members on this side of the House have fought for a better deal for everyday Aussies, whether that's making health care and medicines cheaper, making education and training more affordable or boosting wages, giving a fair day's pay for a fair day's work for Aussies, the Liberals have voted against it because they want to work against the living standards of everyone in this country.

They want to continue the legacy of the previous Liberal government by getting our country going backwards again. Really? They are willing to deny Aussies cost-of-living relief to raise their living standards because it benefits the Liberal Party. We saw that in the past when the Liberals were in government. We're seeing that now under this opposition leader in the present as he blocks every effort made to help Australian households. I'm afraid we're going to see this destructive behaviour going forward. You only have to look at the Liberals' $1.6-billion-a-year scheme to make everyday Aussies pay for the lunches of the Leader of the Opposition and his mates. While some families in my community will have spaghetti on toast for tea tonight, the opposition leader wants that same family to pay for a boardroom banquet tomorrow. It's embarrassing that, on the rare occasion the alternative Prime Minister of this country comes out with policy involving food on the table, it's only to put food on the table next to him. It's only to raise his standard of living. I'm going to fight him because I want to raise your standard of living. Through the policies of this Labor government, that's exactly what we are doing.

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