Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have received a letter from the honourable member for Hume proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

This government’s broken promises, including the promise to reduce the cost of mortgages for Australian families.

I call upon those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

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

The budget was an opportunity for the government to lay out how it is dealing with the great strengths it inherited in the economy and in the budget and with the great challenges that we face as a nation. But instead, after only a few short days, it sank without a trace. That is because all we got in this budget was gloom, doom, forecasting and commentary. What we didn't get was a plan. The Treasurer said before the budget he was going to paint a picture, and I was looking forward to perhaps an oil painting or a water colour, but we know that all we got was a self-portrait, because in the lead-up to the Budget we saw puff piece after puff piece, not about the budget but about the Treasurer. The Treasurer was more obsessed with himself than he was with the great people of this great nation who wanted to see a plan. They wanted to see a plan.

The test for this budget was simple. It was to deliver a comprehensive plan that builds on the great strengths that have been inherited and deals with the challenges that we face: to put downward pressure on inflation and interest rates without increasing taxes, to relieve the supply side pressures we see in the economy by increasing participation rates and productivity, and to deliver on the key promises that Labor made in their election campaign—unambiguous promises. In the shorter term, Australians do want to see lower interest rate. They do want to see lower inflation. In the longer term, they want to be in a position where they're empowered, where their aspirations can be realised, where they know they're going to have a lower tax environment, an environment where if they put in effort, if they make investments and if they take risks, they're going to be rewarded for it but they saw none of that. They saw absolutely none of that. All they saw was a missed opportunity.

Instead of delivering a comprehensive plan to deal with interest rates and inflation, we know now that what we've seen is a plan, or a lack of a plan, which will leave the Reserve Bank doing all the work to deal with the interest rates and inflation that we are seeing with such strength. Instead of delivering economic growth and ensuring that spending is less than economic growth, we've seen $115 billion of extra spending in this budget. A Reserve Bank that wants to be able to take the pressure off Australian families, to not raise interest rates as much as it otherwise would have, doesn't want to see an extra $115 billion of spending but that's exactly what it saw in this budget.

When it comes to broken promises, the list is long. I only have seven minutes left, so I have to focus on a short list of broken promises because there are many. There is the $275 reduction in power prices. The Treasurer misheard the question on this but the truth is it is gone. That promise is absolutely gone, replaced with a 56 per cent increase in the next two years. They promised no change in franking credits. Gone. There's $550 million of additional taxes on franking credits. I remember 2019 well. Maybe the Treasurer was mishearing during the 2019 election campaign. The Australian people said very clearly in 2019 that they don't want to see more tax on franking credits.

They promised, prior to the election, an improvement and increase in real wages. In fact, what we saw in the budget, in black and white, was no increase in real wages in this term of government. We saw—we heard it today—in their campaign launch, a few weeks before the election, a promise of cheaper mortgages. There are no asterisks or footnotes in that one. I went through and checked very carefully. It's gone! Cheaper mortgages? They've given up the ghost and put up the white flag.

This is what we've seen of this budget. More than anything else, it's Labor putting up the white flag to the challenges Australians are facing, with a whole series of broken promises. It's not surprising that some gave the Treasurer the label 'Snake Chalmers' soon after the budget was handed down.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Member for Hume, I might remind you to temper your remarks when referring to other members and use their proper titles.

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

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Stephen Koukoulas, who was an adviser to Julia Gillard, was making commentary on the budget, particularly in relation to the impact that the budget might have on interest rates. Every good economist knows that a good budget, a budget that lays out a clear plan, can take pressure off the Reserve Bank, which means Australians face fewer interest rate increases than would otherwise be the case. Every Australian wants to see that mortgages are payable, that they have cheaper mortgages. It's something that was promised by those opposite.

Stephen Koukoulas, in commenting on the budget, said that the budget puts no downward pressure on inflation, leaving 'the Reserve Bank with all of the work, in carrying the can, in getting the inflation rate lower'. There was no plan in this budget. There was just leaving the Reserve Bank to carry the can. If the Reserve Bank carries the can, Australians pay the price—every Australian, particularly every hardworking Australian with a mortgage.

The Treasurer is running around saying that the budget was responsible. I've already said that there was an extra $115 billion of spending in the budget. When you take the March budget and look at the four years over the forwards—add up the spending there, and then compare that with this budget—there's an extra $115 billion of spending in this budget. That is not a responsible budget. I don't think anyone could call an extra $115 billion of loose change a responsible budget.

It gets worse. When you look across—

Honourable members interjecting—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Enough of the interjections from both sides of the House.

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

The government is clocking up deficits to the tune of $181 billion. The truth is, what you normally expect of a Treasurer coming into a new job like this is that they'll try to improve the situation. So I looked at the budget ,when I was in the lock-up, thinking, 'Okay, he's going to reduce the deficit; the deficit's going to come down.' But, no! It goes from $32 billion up to $51 billion in 2024-25. How does anyone expect the Reserve Bank to manage interest rates down in an environment where the government is blowing out its spending and blowing out the budget deficits? That is exactly what is going on in this budget.

But they've done something else—very tricky, very sneaky. It took us a little while to find this. They've given up on the notion of budget balance. It's gone. Since 1996, every budget, Labor or Liberal, has always committed in the fiscal strategy to budget balance.

Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Even Swannie tried!

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

Even Swannie had a go! He at least notionally committed to it. It was in his budget. You could read through the fiscal strategy, and there it was: budget balance. In this budget, it was gone—struck out. How on earth can the Reserve Bank and every Australian who is borrowing money have any confidence, in that environment, that we can manage down interest rates and avoid a blowout in interest rates in the coming months and years? We know, because we heard it today, that the Goldman Sachs chief economist has pointed out that the cash rate is expected to go to over four per cent and, of course, that means a much higher rate for mortgages in the coming months. As we approach Christmas, every Australian with a mortgage knows they are going to be paying a lot more.

A whole host of economists have pointed this out. Steven Hamilton from the ANU's tax and transfer policy unit has said this budget delivers the weakest economic and fiscal strategy of any government since the Charter of Budget Honesty was established—the weakest economic and fiscal strategy—and the exact opposite of a responsible economic manager. This is so disappointing. Hamilton goes on to point out that the government is 'actively driving the budget deeper into structural deficit'. There is nothing in there that can give Australians any confidence that there's a plan that will take pressure off inflation or take pressure off interest rates, and that is incredibly disappointing. This was a great missed opportunity.

Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We've just had a 10-minute demonstration of why the people of Australia look at this coalition and think of them as a bunch of political bin chickens, scratching around for misery and relevance—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, take your seat, please. Manager of Opposition Business.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker, the Speaker has ruled on that offensive term that the minister has, sadly, a track record of repeatedly using. The Speaker has made it clear that it's unparliamentary, and the member must withdraw.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask the Assistant Treasurer to withdraw, please.

Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw. We have just had 10 minutes of demonstration that this mob over here haven't come to terms with the decision that the people of Australia made on 21 May this year. They want to have a discussion this afternoon about political promises and about the commitments that we've made and delivered to the Australian people. Let's go through them.

We promised to get wages moving and we've introduced laws and passed them through this parliament today which will ensure some of the lowest-paid Australians have the capacity to bargain effectively and collectively to get their wages moving. You'd think that the coalition opposition, which was so concerned about low-paid workers and the projection of wages, would have voted in favour of sensible reforms to get wages moving. What did they do? They spent the entire morning moaning and whingeing and obstructing and attempting to stop Labor's sensible plan moving through this House. But, thankfully, the majority of members of parliament did not agree with them.

We have stuck good with our commitment to get wages moving for the lowest-paid Australians. Within a day of winning the election, we wrote to the Fair Work Commission, supporting an increase in the minimum wage for Australia's low-paid workers and it was delivered—on average a $40 increase for some of Australia's lowest-paid workers. What did this mob over here say about that? It was all too hard. Well, it wasn't all too hard. We promised it, we delivered it and there is more to come. We promise that we're on the side of aged-care workers because we know that, unless we can lift the minimum wages of aged-care workers, we aren't going to be able to provide the services to some of Australia's most vulnerable people. We want to improve the level of care in aged care and we want to improve the wages of aged-care workers. We promised it and we're delivering it.

We promised to fix the mess in the energy system. You'd think the member for Hume would show a just a little bit of humility, because there's not a person in this parliament who is more responsible for the abject mess and destruction that we've seen in energy and energy policy in this country than the member for Hume. If dopey looks could power an energy system we'd have it nailed. We'd have it nailed because that's all we see. All we see from the member for Hume—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll save the member for Riverina on the point of order, Member for Whitlam, and ask you to withdraw the reference that you just made.

Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw. They are so easy to form offence, so easy to own offence and so easy to own up to it, as well. If the production of policies that went nowhere was going to be an answer to our energy crisis then the member for Hume would have had it nailed. They had 22 energy policies. His hands were over every single one of them, destroying them all and ensuring that we have the energy chaos that we are experiencing in Australia today. The net result from households and businesses is energy prices going through the roof.

We promised a federal ICAC. We promised a federal anticorruption commission because Australians were sick of the rorts and the behaviour of that mob over there. Nine years of rorts, of being unable to tell the truth, of an inability to take responsibility for anything, of an inability to hold a hose—it was always somebody else's responsibility. The money of the people of Australia was seemingly the political plaything of the coalition parties. The Australian people were sick to death of that style of government. They wanted a federal anticorruption commission, and we have introduced laws to ensure the people of Australia get one. Those opposite can't make up their mind whether they support it or not. Well, the people of Australia have made up their mind.

We promised to fix aged care. We promised to fix child care and early childhood education. At the very time that members opposite were giving thunderous speeches against our proposed collective bargaining laws, a few metres away some of the lowest paid Australians, who are charged with some of the highest responsibilities, in educating Australian children, were waiting for the result of the deliberation of this chamber. They saw one side of politics backing them in and ensuring that the people we entrust with educating Australians at the earliest of ages are going to get a wage rise through a sensible enterprise bargaining system, and they saw that mob over there vote against it. We promised to stand for early childhood educators, and we are doing it. We promised to fix the mess in aged care, returning nurses to nursing homes and ensuring that the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety were implemented.

They want to talk about promises. We promised to fix the mess and the pandemic of scams and fraud that grew and grew on their watch, from $2 billion to $4 billion, that were all seemingly too hard to deal with. We said: 'No, it's not too hard to deal with. Some of Australia's most vulnerable people and businesses from regions to the country to big cities are the victims of scams that are costing us up to $2 billion a year. We're going to do something about it.' And we are fixing that mess as well.

Labour shortages, domestic manufacturing, cybersecurity and fraud—we all remember the member for Hume promising us a big stick that was somehow going to fix the gas market. Where is that big stick today? The gas marketing policies and the gas market that they set up are not working. We've got the worst gas crisis we have seen our nation's history. The policies and the market mechanisms that they set us are the direct result of the tools that we're supposed to use to fix it. They're not working. We're getting on with the job of fixing it, and we'll ensure that we are going to bring down the price of gas and other energy as a result.

Of all the things that they haven't come to terms with, let's look at the state of the budget. They left us with a structural deficit, and they still won't own up to it. They left a budget in absolute chaos and mess, with a structural deficit and with deficits running from here beyond the next 10 years. They wanted Australians to accept some notion that all you had to do was sprinkle magic growth dust over the numbers and all of that was going to go away. Australians aren't mugs. They voted for change and they're going to get it. We are going to be honest with Australian people. We have started that honest discussion with the budget we delivered a few weeks ago. We're telling them where the problems are. We're telling them where the budget pressures are. We're telling them what needs to be done to fix it and we will fix it. A trillion dollars worth of debt—on which the interest payments are the fastest growing element of expenses in our budget today. They want to lecture us on economic management. That mob over there were the worst economic managers that this country has ever seen.

They introduced a budget a few months ago that did not have one cent of saving in it—not one cent of saving! They're cackling over there, but there was not one cent of saving in the budget a few months ago and they want to lecture us on the $22 billion worth of savings. The rorts and mismanagement that we found in their budget—that for them was supposedly too hard, too difficult and couldn't be found. Twenty-two billion dollars worth of savings—we're doing the hard work. We will not accept a lecture from this mob over here on economic management, because they are an absolute and abject joke. A structural deficit, a trillion dollars worth of debt, businesses that can't get workers, workers that can't afford to turn up to work because wages haven't moved in over a decade—this mob are hopeless!

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Life will be cheaper under me. That was the headline—life will be cheaper under me—on the front page of the Oz. Cheaper electricity bills, cheaper mortgages, a plan to bring down the cost of living. That's what he said: life will be cheaper under me. The Prime Minister told Australians that they'd be better off under him and a Labor government. But six months on the only thing that is going up is inflation, gas prices, electricity prices, mortgage payments and interest rates. How much support is coming to the Australian people for their cost of living? Zero. Absolutely nothing. By Christmas regular Australian families will be paying at least $2,000 more. They'll be $2,000 worse off by Christmas. The Prime Minister said, 'No-one left behind.' He promised that but apparently that only applies to their union masters.

The government had one task for their budget: to deliver a plan that reduced cost-of-living pressures, put downward pressure on inflation and interest rates, and deliver on the key promises—the promises that they made to the Australian people. 'Life will be cheaper under me,' he said. Not only did they fail that test, but they've failed the Australian people they promised to support. Australians can't afford to pay their electricity bills, because prices are rising by 56 per cent. Gas prices are going to be up by 44 per cent. My dear old dad in South Australia already can't afford his electricity prices and now this government is pushing them through the roof by 56 per cent. Australians are struggling to pay their gas bills and prices are forecast to go up by 44 per cent. These are Australians who have worked their whole lives and now they can't afford to pay their bills. They are Australians who are struggling to pay their mortgages, because interest rates continue to climb.

On 97 occasions those opposite, the Prime Minister, promised a $275 cut in power bills—97 times! Yet when it comes to delivering on that promise they back out. What do they do? They divert blame. They shake the finger. They shake the finger, they divert and they blame us on our side. They fumble with fake apologies, excuses and reasons as to why they spend that money somewhere else.

Australians are having to choose between whether they heat or whether they eat and this government couldn't care less. The reality is that it's getting harder and harder for Australians to make ends meet under this new, inexperienced, baby Labor government which is clearly incapable of managing our economy.

Almost every day of the election campaign the Prime Minister promised he would show up and take responsibility. He now spends question time talking about what the opposition did, not talking about what his plan for the Australian people is. Why? Because he doesn't have a plan. He needs to stop making excuses, stand up and start governing. Instead of providing tax relief; they're increasing taxes.

Let's be clear: those opposite love to tax. They're lovers of tax, that's what they are. Labor loves a tax. And we know how those in Labor feel about aspiration. Do they even know what 'aspiration' means? The coalition will always support aspirational Australians. We want to see your small-, family- and medium-sized businesses grow. We want to see you grow, we want to see you successful, we want to see you own your own home and we want to see you take home more of what you earn, to build something that you care about.

All that Labor, on the other side, sees are dollar signs. Labor loves a tax. They said they supported the stage 3 tax cuts, but now they're not sure anymore, which means that millions of Australians will be worse off when they scrap them. If they're repealed, a teacher earning $70,000 a year would lose more than $620 every year. A qualified diesel mechanic earning $100,000 a year would lose more than $1,370 every single year if they scrap those tax cuts. How is that fair? I can tell Australians that the coalition will continue to fight for your tax relief, because it's your money and not theirs.

Labor also promised to increase real wages, but this budget shows that real wages are going backwards. The coalition wants to see higher wages but this government's plan for radical changes to IR laws to give power to their union mates is bad for the economy, bad for business, bad for employers and bad for employees and families. This government is failing to deliver for Australians and failing to deliver on the Prime Minister's promise that 'life will be cheaper under me'. Mr Love-a-tax—'life will be cheaper under me'. They're just making a bad situation much, much worse.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to have the opportunity to rise to speak on this matter of public importance. I'm finding some of the statements by those opposite just absolutely laughable. There's the hypocrisy, after 10 years in government, of asking, 'What is your plan?' We have done more in the last six months for this country than they did in nearly a decade. That was a government—it actually goes beyond party politics—that was beneath the office of governing.

They were not taking responsibility for anything and they had lost any interest in what was important to the Australian people. They were not looking after their interests; they were looking after their own interests. Everything they did was about an announcement and trying to stay in government. They were becoming increasingly desperate and, in May this year, the Australian people spoke. As a great man once said, when you change the government you change the country. And we have seen that already in the less-than-six months that the Albanese Labor government has been in government. We have not wasted a day—we have not wasted a minute—in making the changes that we need in order to start building a better future for Australians.

In our budget, handed down a couple of weeks ago, we are looking at delivering cost-of-living relief that doesn't increase inflation. We are looking at making child care cheaper for Australian families. We have extended paid parental leave. We are investing in housing and we are investing in renewable energy, to take the climate action we need and to reduce power prices. On their watch, I think there were 22—or was it 23; there were more than 20—energy policies and they couldn't land one. So they have landed this country in the mess that we inherited as a government, and we're just beginning to address that. And we have achieved so much, I have to say, in such a short time.

This matter of public importance which they raised today is about mortgages, and I'm really pleased to talk about the Albanese Labor government's agenda on housing. This was a huge part of the platform that we took to the election and a huge part of our agenda. It's really important, because, as we all know, people in our electorates are struggling with the cost of housing. I do feel for those in the opposition; they've come in here and have to try to say something. After 10 years of delivering nothing in this regard, it must be difficult. But I have to say: the hypocrisy is a little bit hard to take when they ask what our plan is.

What was their plan to help Australians with housing? Their plan was to let young people rob their own retirement savings. This was the great idea of the former member for Goldstein, Tim Wilson, and they adopted it in the dying days of the 2022 election. They genuinely wanted Australians to rob from their future selves to pay for their housing. There are many reasons why that policy was a very bad idea, but one of the main ones is that it was actually going to increase demand without increasing supply. I'll give you a quick lesson in economics 101: if you are going to increase demand without increasing supply, prices will go up and mortgages will go up. So the housing market really dodged a bullet in May this year and the Australian people made the right choice if they want to see the housing crisis in this country addressed.

Affordable housing is central to the security and dignity of all Australians. It is tough to buy a home now—tougher than ever before—and research by the Grattan Institute has found that 40 years ago almost 60 per cent of young Australians on low and modest incomes owned their own homes. Sadly, that is now only 28 per cent. That is why we are taking the action that is needed.

Our housing minister has revealed that, in the month since the launch of our regional housing policy on 1 October, more than 360 regional Australians have already taken advantage of the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee. This is a guarantee that helps regional Australians with a deposit of as little as five per cent to buy a home— (Time expired)

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Canberra asks: what did we achieve in nearly 10 years of government? The final two years were very difficult, Member for Canberra. I can remember being in those top-level meetings when we were being told by the Chief Medical Officer that we could expect tens of thousands of Australians to die from COVID-19 within weeks, if not months. And I can well remember when James Kwan passed away, having contracted COVID-19 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. That was 1 March 2020. We were headed towards a budget surplus, the first budget surplus for a dozen years, and that paled into insignificance compared to what we needed to do as a government and as an executive of government to keep Australians alive, to keep Australians safe and to keep businesses' doors open. Keeping people's livelihoods was the first priority, because the first priority of a government is keeping its nation's people safe. And that's what we did.

Yes, we racked up a considerable debt. It wasn't a trillion dollars, as those opposite would claim. It isn't anywhere near a trillion dollars, but, yes, it is a massive debt, and yes, the Albanese government has inherited a large debt. But that debt kept Australians alive. That debt kept Australians in jobs. That debt kept businesses open. Whether it was in regional Australia or in metropolitan Australia, it did not matter. It was almost a war footing. They were almost warlike conditions that we were confronted with, because it was almost like a war; it was a war on Australia's health. I am very proud that, in my time as Deputy Prime Minister, with Scott Morrison as Prime Minister and with great people—

Honourable Member:

An honourable member interjecting—

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, there were a few others. There was Josh Frydenberg. There was Greg Hunt. They are no longer in the parliament. Greg retired. Josh, unfortunately, was beaten in Kooyong, and I acknowledge that that's democracy. I acknowledge that, yes, Australians voted for change on 21 May; I acknowledge that. Australians were very frustrated. They were frustrated by state premiers who closed borders and closed people down for too long, but that was also something that the Commonwealth tried to work with the states on. We tried to put Australians above politics, and I think we did that. I think the fact that we're now not wearing masks, the fact that we're now moving freely around our country and the fact that the Hopkins research centre index had Australia rated No. 2 in the world for our response to COVID-19 is something we should be very proud of as a nation. I know I am. And I know that, long after I've finished in this place, that will be one of the legacies—that I was in on those meetings.

I know those opposite come in here and talk, with their political strategy of: 'Let's talk about a trillion dollars of debt!' Well, it is a big debt—I acknowledge that. But the fact remains: it's not anywhere near a trillion dollars. And the fact remains: we kept Australians alive and we kept Australians in jobs.

We're talking here about broken promises, and there are many. I am very disappointed, for my own electorate, and I know the member for Cowper is also earnestly and honestly disappointed, that our areas, our regions, have lost out on veterans wellbeing centres. There are thousands upon thousands of veterans, in Cowper and in Riverina, who deserve nothing less than a wellness centre in their electorate. But they've been taken away because of a broken commitment by Labor; we offered $5 million to each area, and they have been taken away and put in Labor electorates.

The Building Better Regions Fund has been rebadged, and there's less money in it. That is a shame. That is a broken promise to regional Australia.

An opposition member: A shame.

It is. Real wages are coming down. I know those opposite talk about the fact that the Fair Work Commission has increased the lowest rate of wages. We have the highest minimum wage in the world. That's something we should also, as a nation, be very proud of. I don't hear those opposite talking that up. We should be very proud of what we have as a nation, and we should be positive about our future—not always blaming others for something that has been done in the past, which is what the government does all too often. We should be positive. We should be talking up the economic fortunes of our nation, because they will be strong and I hope they are.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say to the previous speaker: you can be assured that we are very proud of what we're doing with the minimum wage in that increase—very proud indeed. I want to acknowledge, also, the previous speaker's acknowledgment of the massive debt that was racked up by those opposite, in former governments, before COVID. When no-one even knew what COVID was, there was a massive debt racked up. So it's a bit rich, I've got to say, for those opposite to talk about broken promises—very rich. Their governments—in previous iterations, under previous prime ministers, who, of course, were stabbed in the back—probably broke more promises than any other governments in the history of the Commonwealth.

Those opposite loved nothing more than to make an announcement and to have a photo op. But, when it came to the delivery, it was a very, very different situation indeed. Often it would be a case of an announcement, a photo op—the friendly media would give them front pages—but then very little happened after that. Their lips were zipped at that point. Then, of course, they used distraction in order to try and pretend that they were delivering.

But the reality was that, with three prime ministers, they were more involved in the internals and, in particular, as we heard today, using the posts of defence minister and veterans ministers as prizes in factional battles around knifing leaders. That is not to take anything away from the previous speaker's efforts when he held one of those posts, but he would have to say, without a doubt, that that chopping and changing of ministers in those portfolios led to an inability to deliver capability that has left our nation now, essentially, with a very difficult transition to submarine strike capability into the future, at a time when there's perhaps the most difficult set of strategic circumstances facing us.

But who could forget—if we do go back in history a bit, because I think this is where the rot always started with those opposite, and some of those on the front bench and some of those on the back bench were part of these governments—Tony Abbott? Remember that government, the one that he led?

You would also remember that he said something like: 'No cuts to the ABC and SBS. No cuts to education and health.' Then he stood up and delivered what was probably the worst budget ever delivered in this country. It did the exact opposite of what he had promised prior to that election.

Also what about their promise then for stable government? They stabbed in the back one Prime Minister and then another Prime Minister. Those opposite, if I'm not mistaken—and I'm happy to be corrected—hold the record when it comes to knifing their own leaders. I reckon they hold that record by a country mile. Does anyone want to give another situation that was as destabilising as that period in the last nine or 10 years?

They did a backflip, as I said, on the submarine purchases and $5 billion was wasted. That money has just disappeared. Anyone who lives in regional Australia knows that $5 billion can do a fair bit. That left us not only in a strategic difficulty but also with fiscal waste. It is forever a stain on those governments. The list of their failed promises in the defence arena alone would have me here half a day, and I haven't got much time left. There were so many promises.

I want to touch on First Nations. They said that they would engage more with First Nations, but then refused to back the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which came from the heart of First Nations people and was about what they needed to move forward. They ignored that. Then they called a royal commission into youth detention in the Northern Territory, but didn't do anything to help with the implementation of those recommendations. That's another stain on those opposite, which they should be ashamed of.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Government is not a spectator sport; you actually have to run the country. This Labor mob are treating it as such. They're fixating on commentary, rhetoric and spin rather than providing the country with real solutions that address the crisis that surrounds us. Labor said they have a plan. Now they look like a deer in the headlights. Australians are crying out for leadership and direction from their government. Labor don't seem to realise that they're at the helm.

In this country the cost of living is the No. 1 concern for people right now. It's the issue that is putting immense pressure on hardworking Australians who are just trying to pay the bills. It affects everyone. Yet this government seem to be more fixated on giving their union mates a Christmas present rather than providing a reprieve for the people who need it.

The broken promises are mounting, and Labor just doesn't seem to care. On budget night this Labor government walked away from a commitment to reduce every household's energy bills by $275—a promise they repeated over 97 times. It was not a slip of the tongue—97 times. Instead, the government have given us a 56 per cent increase in power prices. Those are not my words; they're the government's words. Power bill help is not in the budget. It's a broken promise.

Here are a few more things the government has promised: cheaper mortgages—ba-bow!—and no changes to franking credits—ba-bow!—and cheaper energy prices and cheaper electricity prices—and we've heard that's not going to happen; ba-bow!—and stage 3 tax cuts. They're having a little play around with that. They can't even agree about that amongst themselves—ba-bow! And no new multi-employer bargaining laws. After the fiasco this morning, that has come through as well—ba-bow! It's unbelievable. The Australian people are starting to wonder whether the government even understand the problems they are facing. There are no solutions and no plans.

Since the budget was announced we've seen annual inflation hit 7.3 per cent—the highest level in more than three decades. Homeowners with mortgages are feeling overwhelmed with these extraordinary extra payments. Already a family with a $750,000 mortgage is paying $1,200 extra every month, compared to May this year. During the election campaign the Prime Minister stood up and said that Labor had a plan for cheaper mortgages. Then in October we had the budget. This was Labor's opportunity to put ink on the promises they committed to in the election campaign, yet these promises were missing from the pages. There was zero physical strategy and there were no economic solutions. Even Julia Gillard's former economist has said this budget does not put downward pressure on inflation. The government are hoping the RBA will do their work for them.

The Australian people have the right to feel let down. They have the right to feel misled. They're the ones who are burdened with increased pressure on their day-to-day bills without any leadership from their government. The government said to us before the polls, 'No-one held back, no-one left behind.' Now, six months on, all we have is a disgracefully long list of broken promises. But you need to give credit where credit's due. They remembered to keep one promise, and that is to the unions. They have lined the unions' pockets because the unions have given them $100 million. At least they have looked after someone. They're being looked after, after all, and they've just been repaid by this appalling fair work sticky tape legislation that is not fair at all.

Meanwhile, the students, the mums and dads, the aspiring homeowners, the mortgage payers, the taxpayers and the young professionals are being left behind to struggle with the cost of living that is going up, up and up. Labor said they had a plan to bring down the cost of living. Now they don't. It's been six months, so get your act together and give us a plan for the sake of all Australians. Do your job.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you. I have no doubt Hansard will be anxiously awaiting your written notes for some assistance on spelling the sound effects.

Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was going to say that I don't have the same sound effects as the member opposite! I rise to speak about my fantastic electorate of Lingiari, and I think it's a bit rich of the opposition to now care about the cost of living and the cost of Australian mortgages. But I want to quickly touch on the contribution by the member for Riverina. I do acknowledge the work that was done in the two years of COVID, but there was no acknowledgment of all of the organisations, the frontline doctors and nurses and the Aboriginal health services that worked tirelessly in the area to get COVID under control. While the government played a role, there certainly has to be a lot of acknowledgment of those frontline workers. I know that the member for Robertson and other people on this side of the House did a lot in that time. Perhaps if the opposition could have managed the economy, formed an energy policy or even kept an eye on rising inflation, we wouldn't be in the situation we are in now.

I know that in my electorate of Lingiari, people will find the opposition statement particularly hypocritical. For 10 years the opposition had a chance to invest in Lingiari and the Northern Territory, and they didn't. In just six months Labor has shown it is a trustworthy government that delivers for Lingiari. This is not something the former government could have said. Labor has been in power for six months—six months in which we've begun the long, hard work of cleaning up the absolute waste and mismanagement of the previous coalition government. As the opposition well knows, we are facing challenging global economic headwinds. Major economies around the world are struggling with the cost of inflation, and responsible action from government is needed. The most recent federal budget is a targeted and responsible budget that delivers on our election commitments. We are delivering on our promises to get wages moving, we are delivering on our promise for better vocational education and we are delivering an historic agreement with states and territories to deliver one million new homes for Australians. This will include 40,000 social and affordable houses. This will increase the housing stock around the country. To match this, Labor also brought forward our Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee. In just six short weeks, hundreds of Australians have already taken advantage of the guarantee. We are also working hard on implementing our Help to Buy Scheme, which will lower the cost of mortgages.

What have the Liberals had to say on this scheme? Nothing but criticism. It's good to see that the opposition is now willing to work with us on lowering the cost of mortgages for Australian people. The former government had a decade to address the housing supply crisis and make homes and mortgages cheaper. They didn't. Labor will do what the former government couldn't and we will step up to the plate on housing.

For my electorate of Lingiari this will be critical. We need more homes built for people, not just in the cities but out bush in our communities and in our regional towns. Unlike the previous government, this Labor government cares about Territorians. This Labor government cares about our regional towns. It cares about the bush. Labor took to the election a commitment of $100 million for immediate investment in homelands. Labor is delivering on this promise. Labor took the $120 million Central Australia plan to the election, and we are delivering it. This plan is a lifeline for Mparntwe Alice Springs, which saw nothing but neglect from the coalition government.

We are delivering better roads and better connectivity for our communities and investing in jobs in our regions. That's what Labor governments do. They deliver for the people of the Northern Territory. And I am working every day in making sure that I work with local government, the Territory government and the federal government, together with traditional owners, to look at land availability for housing. This is what it's all about: practical measures that will address housing issues in my electorate, not just paying lip-service to these issues and ignoring matters on the ground in my electorate. Thank you.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, it has been a tough couple of weeks for anyone who holds a mortgage—or any loan, frankly—within our economy. Two weeks ago we had the federal budget and then a little over a week later the Reserve Bank made their decision to increase interest rates by another 25 basis points. Both documents had updated macroeconomic forecasts. A consistent pattern seems to be emerging where, each time forecasts are updated, the outlook on inflation looks worse and worse. The Reserve Bank now predicts that inflation is going to peak at eight per cent. Recently the ABS statistics for the September quarter had inflation running at 7.3 per cent. So if people are feeling that things are tough now, unfortunately the Reserve Bank and the budget papers are predicting that it is only going to get tougher.

We know that as inflation increases a lot of terrible things happen in our economy. But when it comes to this motion, when it comes to mortgages and particularly homeowners, there are two significant impacts of inflation. The first is the real-value destruction of the value of the asset, because the market is certainly not moving up at all. The market is moving down, but even if it was staying the same, if inflation is running at eight per cent then the value of that asset is decreasing by that amount, if its value isn't changing with that amount.

Even more significant is that as inflation goes up the Reserve Bank needs to fight that from a monetary policy point of view. Ordinarily you would hope that the government would equally do so from a fiscal point of view. On the monetary side, that means increasing interest rates. They've gone up consistently, at every meeting of the Reserve Bank since May, and unfortunately most commentators are predicting that they will continue to go up. There's a meeting in a few weeks, in the first week of December, and then of course the RBA won't meet in January, but they'll start meeting again from February. One commentator indicated today that he thinks there'll be four to five more interest rate rises and that the cash rate will go to 4.1 per cent. That means add at least three per cent for what the retail rate will be—interest rates at over seven per cent for the average homeowner. This is a devastating outlook if you've got a mortgage.

Let's not forget that most people would have locked in a fixed rate mortgage for around three years, but, when that mortgage matures, they're probably going from that rate, which was based off a cash rate of 0.1 per cent, as it was until May, and they'll be refinancing with an increase of, potentially, four per cent in their interest rate. That is the outlook for mortgagees in this country. It's also the outlook for anyone who borrows money. It's the outlook for businesses. The cost of capital in our economy is going up dramatically. In light of all that, in the budget two weeks ago we saw no attempt from the government whatsoever to provide any fiscal policy medicine to the challenge of inflation in our economy. Not only are they leaving the entirety of the job to the Reserve Bank; they making it worse by adding $115 billion of new expenditure in this budget, which is only pumping more money from the government into an economy that is already overheating. It's predicted, in the government's own budget papers, for inflation to peak at eight per cent at least.

So we have a government that is not providing any help to the Reserve Bank. In fact, they're making the Reserve Bank's job even harder. What we know is that, as the Reserve Bank is continuing to increase interest rates, that is the responsibility of a government that is not providing any fiscal policy support to the Reserve Bank's monetary policy changes that they have to make month after month to combat inflation. We must defeat inflation. It is vital. It destroys wealth, and the people it hurts the most are those that have the tightest fixed incomes, who've got no ability in their household budget to make changes to accommodate these growing costs. Fighting inflation is critical. Not helping the Reserve Bank is what the government have done in this budget, and they will be held to account for it. As your mortgage goes up, like every other price on the economy, it's the Albanese government that will be held to account and be held responsible by the voters for that.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thought to myself when I was asked to speak on this MPI: 'Geez, I must have upset the whip this week.' I'm last to speak on the MPI on Thursday, and then I read the actual MPI, written by the member for Hume, and I thought, 'I've really upset the whip this week.' We all know that the member for Hume, the shadow Treasurer, has absolutely no credibility when it comes to actually representing what our government is doing. He has form for misrepresenting information all the time, as he has done in this very simple MPI.

The policy that Labor announced at the election and where they're trying to draw this broken promise from is our plan, the Help to Buy, which will assist Australians to buy homes with smaller deposits, smaller mortgages and smaller mortgage repayments. That was our policy. It's a complex policy. You actually have to read the detail of how we will achieve that. Clearly, the member for Hume did not read it when he was writing this MPI.

Mortgages are going up. Absolutely. And we knew that when we were in opposition. That's why we actually drafted policies like the Help to Buy that will assist Australians with purchasing a home, meaning that they will have smaller deposits and smaller mortgages and smaller mortgage repayments. That's why we came up with policies to help address that. For the first time in a long time, first home buyers are entering the market less and less. The generation known as the millennials are less likely to own a home than their grandparents. It's a problem that we've inherited but a problem that we're working to address, with programs like the Help to Buy program and the program to help people in my region, the regional homebuyers grant, which is helping people into their first home.

What happened under the previous government cannot be ignored when it comes to mortgages. I can remember, like most can remember, the Reserve Bank Governor pleading with the previous government to do something. The only lever that they had to try and help our economy was to cut interest rates. But back then they warned us and said, 'What we cut will eventually have to go up.' They pleaded with the government to do something about the economic situation that we're in, but all the previous government did was make things worse. They super-sized and boosted areas that didn't need to be boosted—for example, the homebuilding sector. They like to try and blame this side for the supply problem that we have in terms of materials, but it started under their government through their policy.

What we have today in this MPI is a desperate opposition trying to peg its failures on our government. We do feel for all Australians whose mortgages are going up—we really do understand the pressures—and that's why in our budget there are a number of other cost-alleviating measures that we introduced. Cheaper child care will help these families if they've got children in child care, making child care cheaper for 95 per cent of Australian families. We're making sure we're doing what we can to keep inflation down. We've introduced a bill that has passed the House around cheaper medicines. That is another way we're helping people with the cost of living. These are some of the measures that our government is implementing.

I'd really like to suggest to the opposition to take this process seriously. Enough with the games and enough with the rhetoric, particularly in relation to MPIs. Our time in this place is precious, and we should use it debating facts and not debating the rhetoric that they've put forward. When parliament comes back, I say to them to do better so that we can have a genuine debate about the economy, not one based upon a loose string of ideas. Take responsibility for what you did in your term of government.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The discussion has now concluded.