Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are living in difficult times when the prices of all essential goods are rising, petrol is becoming an item of luxury, we are hurting those on low and fixed incomes and those who have families, especially those who live in country areas. In the Lyons electorate people do not have the luxury of having a lot of public transport to their door. They do not have a selection of doctors or dentists to visit when needed. The phone system is a bit of a joke and the ABC TV reception is being stripped away as technology overtakes the country and leaves it behind. I am sure that you experience similar problems, Mr Deputy Speaker, in your vast electorate as well. On top of all this, the price of petrol is wearing away the small luxuries that many people in country areas enjoy—visiting their families, going boating or dropping into the local entertainment venue in the nearest town.

Mortgage rates may not seem to be the most worried about item on the list of bills, according to some, but there are many young people in Tasmania who have just bought their first home and with the fourth interest rate rise this year they are stretched beyond the original cost of their homes. It is more than they had bargained for, and therefore the costs of servicing the bank loans is on the edge of their income limit.

Petrol would not have been such a big deal if all those other costs had not started to insidiously move in on the family income. These days are bad for young people buying a home and are bad for many struggling small businesses out there as well. The Prime Minister has ruled over the third interest rate rise, since he took personal responsibility for interest rates 18 months ago. Eighteen months ago he promised to keep interest rates low. This is the third interest rate rise since he made that pledge to the Australian people. That pledge has been broken three times since it was made. There has been no action from this government to deal with the skills crisis and the infrastructure bottlenecks which are the underlying causes of inflationary pressures and rising interest rates.

In Australia today we have debt at record levels. There is no such thing as a small interest rate rise when people have huge mortgages and are up to their eyeballs in debt. Since 2002, the cost of an average monthly repayment on a new mortgage has skyrocketed from $800 to $1,460. That is why, for middle-income families, there is no such thing as a small interest rate rise—because there is no such thing as a small mortgage.

Interest rates in this country are among the highest in the developed world, and the Treasurer and the Prime Minister simply do not get it. They can blame the price of bananas, they can blame tropical cyclones or even tropical fruit, they can blame the price of petrol, which is a factor here of course. But the one thing that you do not do is put your hand up for someone else who is responsible for this outcome. They would prefer to hide behind the Reserve Bank and not admit their culpability for inflationary pressures and their impact on the economy. They gave away lots of money in the last budget, so they have to be held accountable.

My electorate of Lyons is suffering difficulties from all of these pressures and the more so because of the highly dispersed population and the low average income. People cannot afford to live. I have seen houses being sold because of growing costs. People have to make a choice between food and paying bills. It is not a good look, and it is the price of living under a Liberal government. Mortgage rates, petrol prices and the regimes that have been put in place by this government have long-term effects on all Tasmanians and all Australians. It is a sad day. On top of this, all of our working conditions are being eroded and Tasmanians are being asked to do more work for less money and fewer conditions. (Time expired)

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—