Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This was the budget that wasn't going to be delivered. We all know that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer weren't planning to deliver this budget for a pretty straightforward reason—it was going to show a deficit, and it was going to show deficits as far as the eye could see. It was going to destroy that image that the Treasurer has tried to craft around his so-called responsible economic management. The reason that we're going to see deficits moving forward is that the good luck of the Treasurer has run out. It's an important part.

I'll give credit to that well-known and respected economist, Chris Richardson. The table of truth—I see the member for Parramatta smiling. I think he knows where we're going here with this one. There was $252 billion in parameter variations in the budgets that this government has delivered. Parameter variations are important in a budget, because they're the upgrades and the downgrades that the government has no control over at all. The reason this Treasurer has delivered two surpluses in the budget papers themselves is because of these parameter variations. He has had nothing to do with it. He hasn't made the tough decisions for the Australian people. In fact, his decisions have made it worse for the Australian people.

The reality is there is not one Australian that is doing better today than in May of 2022, when the Prime Minister promised he would solve the cost-of-living crisis for the Australian people. The Prime Minister promised, on 97 occasions, that he would reduce power bills by $275 in 2025. Well, here we sit in 2025, and power bills for the Australian people are up by over $1,000, food is up 13.3 percent, housing is up 14.5 per cent, rents are up over 18 per cent and gas is up 34.2 per cent. This Prime Minister has no solutions to the challenges the Australian people face. At best, he can treat the symptoms with a temporary measure that he's continuing to extend but that will eventually run out. They're not treating the causes of the challenges that we face. When we look at energy prices—as I said, gas is up 34.2 per cent—to bring prices down sustainably, to help households, to help community groups and to help businesses continue to thrive, you need to put more gas into the system. More gas will increase supply, keep demand at the same level, or, if it goes up, it can bring those prices down.

Looking to grocery bills, food is up 13.3 per cent. This government has done nothing to address the challenges of grocery prices. There are many factors, including energy, that drive up prices, but, when Woolworths and Coles control 67 per cent of the market, action needs to be taken to put pressure on them. This government has refused to take action. Their so-called mandatory code has not even come into effect and will make no difference on the ground. It's turning a voluntary code that wasn't working into a mandatory code that still won't work, and that's why the coalition has proposed divestiture laws.

Divestiture laws are the policy. I thank those opposite for the interjection. Divestiture laws that sit as a private members bill in this house, which could be passed today, would put immediate pressure on Woolworths and Coles. If they do not act ethically, if they do not act in the best interests of consumers and if they do not act in the best interest of suppliers, food manufacturers and farmers, their stores could be sold and their market share could be broken with appropriate guardrails in place to ensure employment and to ensure that towns have the services they need. Losing their market share is the only thing that will scare Woolworths and Coles executives.

I spent over a decade working for food suppliers that supplied Woolworths and Coles. I saw firsthand the predatory behaviour that they undertook, using their market power to pressure suppliers, small businesses and farmers. These laws will make them act in an ethical way, and, if they don't, they will lose their market share. Those opposite don't want to support that policy that will make a tangible difference for the Australian people and for Australian farmers and which will bring prices down in a sustainable and structural way in the long term. It's all about political spin for this Prime Minister and this Treasurer, and it's the Australian people that pay the price.

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