Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy Affordability) Share this | Hansard source

or one asparagus spear. What a joke! But it's absolutely not a joke; it's this government's absurd faux fix for the cost-of-living crisis that the Albanese government itself created. In fact, this five-week budget has been seen as a joke right across this country, a sad joke. The nation wants a plan for our next five years, not just until the May election. Not only are groceries up; a substantial number of other items are as well—like our mortgages, rent, petrol. Seventy cents a day will not make a dent in the empty pockets of so many everyday Australians.

One thousand and three hundred dollars: that's a lot of money for so many Western Sydney families, yet this is what they're now paying for their energy bills over and above what Labor promised. Remember that $275 pledge to drop household energy bills by this year made on 97 occasions? I know people across Western Sydney in my electorate of Lindsay have not forgotten that huge broken promise. I know the McMahon community from Santa Clara to Fairfield haven't forgotten. They're getting smashed with higher household energy bills, and they're not happy with their local member.

We need to get the country on a sensible direction with energy policy. We need 24/7 baseload power with nuclear and more gas. Renewables are only killing our country's small businesses and our Western Sydney manufacturers. We've seen more than 29,000 small businesses hit the wall due to this government's lack of understanding and care of small businesses in this country. Instead of backing small businesses, the Labor government has boosted the federal public servant count by 41,000. It's extraordinary. Green Valley in Werriwa is one of the top places in the country for business consultancy, but where is the local member for Werriwa on this topic? Is she advocating that small business get a permanent instant asset write-off with the threshold lifting to $30,000? Our Liberal candidate in Werriwa, Sam Kayal, is. He's a fighter for Green Valley, Austral and Prestons and right across Werriwa. He's an accountant and small-business owner that gets small business.

We will ensure $5 billion of funding goes towards local roads, sewerage and other works to get homes built across Werriwa and right across Western Sydney and our whole country, because housing in this country is a major part of the cost-of-living crisis and we need to boost supply. Rattan Virk and Mike Creed, our candidates for Macquarie and Greenway in the north-west, understand the housing pressures due to population growth. We need better infrastructure. Letting Australians use their super will ensure families in Western Sydney can get ahead and get onto the next phase of their lives.

I'm glad the health minister is here, because another cost-of-living issue is cost of health care. Mental ill health is a challenge many families are facing in this cost-of-living crisis, particularly young people and mums and dads trying to pay for their kids' mental health appointments. This is why our wonderful Liberal candidate for Parramatta, Katie Mullens, has fought so hard for headspace in Parramatta. The coalition will bring back better access for psychology sessions. It is great that the health minister is here, because he was in charge of health when the Labor government cut the 20 sessions back to 10. We want to double the Medicare psychology sessions back up to the 20 that Australians deserve. This will provide so much relief for working families, young people and pensioners who need this support. Our Western Sydney team understand the pressures facing our region, from the Blue Mountains to Parramatta and the Hawksbury to Camden. Whether it's the member for Hume, Hughes, Banks or Mitchell or me as the member for Lindsay, our team knows that only a Dutton led coalition government will get Western Sydney back on track.

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