Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, why has the cost of petrol and groceries increased since the Rudd government came to office?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question of petrol and grocery prices and their impact on working families, pensioners and carers is of continuing concern for all Australians. It is of continuing concern to all those in government in Australia.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What are you doing about it?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Dickson has asked his question.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is the first principle. The second thing is to recognise that there are practical things which governments can do in response, in our case beginning with, through the budget, ensuring that we can implement a $55 billion Working Families Support Package, which we legislated. Secondly, we have a $7.5 billion additional set of payments for pensioners, carers and those on the disability support pension. These are practical steps forward. In terms of the factors impacting on oil prices, let us simply be realistic about the fact that global oil prices are out there affecting all economies across the world. If those opposite have a particular solution as to how to quarantine this economy from the roll-on impact of changes in the global price of oil, I am all ears.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hear lots of opportunistic political pointscoring; I do not see a practical plan of action on this. We have one when it comes to providing consumers with a real opportunity to choose where they purchase their petrol. Those opposite have chosen to side with big oil against the consumers. When it comes to the range of other measures which are before us, they have consistently chosen to take sides with the big supermarket chains, with the big oil companies, with the private health insurance companies, against the interests of individual consumers. We stand for giving more power to consumers. They stand for denying consumers that power. We stand for a principle of responsible budget management which delivers a significant package of tax relief measures as well as additional payments for pensioners, carers and DSP recipients and beyond that.

For 12 years, those opposite sat there and did nothing about any fundamental reform to the pension. They sat there and did nothing. The pretence line and the hypocrisy line from those opposite is that, mysteriously, cost-of-living pressures emerged in the last six to eight months affecting pensioners. That is just unsustainable and unbelievable and they stand condemned for their 12 years of inaction.