Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Petrol prices have gone up by as much as $900 a year for a typical family driving a standard car while real wages have fallen $700. On top of this, median rents in Windsor, in my electorate, have increased by almost $3,000 a year. Hasn't it become harder and harder for working families to make ends meet under this decade-old government?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our government has taken numerous initiatives to take the pressure off the cost of living, as the data reveals very clearly, particularly when it comes to petrol prices. When it comes to petrol prices, in the last three years alone, what we have seen is a 1.2 per cent increase on average per year. That compares to a 2.6 per cent increase that occurred under the Labor years.

Reference was also made to housing costs, which I know is a great challenge, particularly for younger people who want to buy into their first home. Since we came to government, housing costs have increased, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, an average of 1.7 per cent each year and, in the last three years, they have increased by 0.6 per cent. That compares to 5.1 per cent under the Labor years. And I know that the Minister for Housing will be able to tell you this: at the last election, I said we were going to take action to help people get into their first home. Under the policies we've introduced since the last election, we have helped 320,000 Australians into home ownership. That's what we took to the election.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The member for Macquarie on a point of order.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, my question was about rentals, not purchasing.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, but the question was also about making it harder for working families to make ends meet. The Prime Minister has the call.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Do you know who's been buying those houses? People who are renting. And we have given them that opportunity through the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme and the Family Home Guarantee, a scheme that is helping single mums buy their first home. That is what our policies are doing. They're giving Australians who have the aspiration to buy a home the opportunity to achieve that—and 320,000 Australians have been helped into home ownership since we were elected three years ago. That's what I call a promise delivered—commitment given, promise delivered. And this government will continue to do that.

With the sound economic management that is being delivered by this government, which has seen Australia through one of the greatest economic challenges since the Great Depression and which has seen Australia coming through this pandemic and the economic recovery underway, Australians can have confidence in the future. They can plan for their future with confidence. They can plan to buy their first home. They can plan to get skilled and get a job. They can plan to open and run a small business. They can plan to invest in new equipment that sees them get an advantage and be able to sell their products at a better price and be able to grow their business. They can do that in regional Australia in manufacturing and recycling and in the services industry. They'll be able to do it as we're getting the students back in December. That is a plan that is securing our economic recovery. Those opposite have no such plans, and no such experience and no such credibility. You can't trust Labor with your money. (Time expired)