Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, he does have a housing plan at the Lodge. I agree with that. Well said. I thought it was worthwhile having a look and seeing what you can buy for 70c. What is it you can buy with the 70c that the Treasurer thinks is the answer to the economic collapse that he has been behind over the last 2½ years? It turns out it's this: a single lolly at some old-school corner stores or service stations; a bread roll from a major supermarket, if they're on sale; a small coin donation to a charity box—it would be a pretty small coin donation; a single photocopy at libraries or office supply stores; a discounted soft-drink can at a clearance sale—it's probably past the use-by date; and an entry into a guessing competition, like, 'How many jelly beans are in the jar?' That is this Treasurer's solution to the biggest collapse in our standard of living in the history of this country. This Treasurer has no idea when it comes to what it takes to have a strong economy.

I said before the budget we've had three budget flops under this Treasurer—three flopped budgets. I said before this one there are three tests. There are three very simple tests. The first is that this budget needs to restore Australians' standard of living. We've seen in 2½ years, on average, an eight per cent reduction in Australians' standard of living, and we know what is behind that—the homegrown inflation that this Treasurer has driven. The Reserve Bank governor called it homegrown. We see grocery prices, for instance, up 30 per cent. Energy prices, gas prices and electricity prices are up over 30 per cent. Insurance bills and mortgage costs—you name it; this Treasurer has overseen a catastrophe on the cost of living that Australians have had to bear. The truth is, throughout that, our core inflation has been higher than most of our peer countries most of the time because this Treasurer never understood what he needed to do about it.

We've seen interest rates that have been higher for longer in this country. I talked about the average Australian family with a mortgage; they've had to find $50,000 that they weren't expecting to have to find—$50,000! The Treasurer's answer is 70c. You've got to be joking. He has no concept of the pain that they are experiencing. I go to food banks—

Government members interjecting—

You should listen to this. I go to food banks right across this country, and I see working people with mortgages going into those food banks who simply can't feed their families. And this Treasurer stands up here and says: 'It's all okay. You're all okay. I'm okay, so aren't you okay?' This bloke has never got it.

The second thing I will say about the cause of this collapse in the standard of living is the increase in personal income taxes being paid. The average Australian is paying $3½ thousand more in personal income taxes than when those opposite came to power, and that's on its way to $10,000.

Government members interjecting—

Nothing you are talking about is going to change that one little bit—

Honourable members interjecting—

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