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

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

The cost of living crisis and the Prime Minister's broken promise that Australians would be better off under his government.

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—

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

Around Australia, this Prime Minister's cost-of-living crisis is affecting millions of Australians. The Prime Minister was pretty clear in the promises he made before the last election. He promised to reduce energy bills by $275 not once, not twice but 97 times. Of course he promised there would be cheaper mortgages, and he promised that Australians would be better off under a Labor government. It was all very clear and very simple. It did not admit of any doubt. So Australians would naturally be very troubled to find that the reality today is extraordinarily different from what this Prime Minister promised. Inflation is at its highest level in over 30 years, core inflation is higher than in the US, Britain, Canada and indeed every G7 nation, and electricity prices have gone up and up and up.

It is in the experiences of Australian families and households where we see the true toll of this government's escalating cost-of-living crisis. Australian families are experiencing the largest fall in their spending power in this century as more and more families struggle with the crippling effects of inflation. Australian families are even resorting to changing their diets, with one report showing that two-thirds of Australians are finding it less affordable to eat healthily. Banks are reporting more Australian families are falling behind on their repayments, and higher-risk customers can't even get a loan or get refinancing. Business collapses are surging, with warnings of an insolvency Armageddon as Labor's first year in office has seen almost a doubling in the rate at which businesses are becoming insolvent.

More Australians with mental health concerns are being forced to cancel appointments with psychologists because they simply can't afford them. Growing numbers of Australians cannot afford to maintain their cars, and they are skipping vital maintenance and repairs. Mortgage risk reports are showing more and more Australian towns and suburbs are entering mortgage shock, with repayments eating up to 60 per cent of household income in some post codes. More than three-quarters of Australians report that they are either extremely or very concerned about the cost of living, with most saying electricity prices are a key concern. The gap between the cost of a typical home and the amount that an average Australian can borrow has more than doubled.

More and more Australians are resorting to having meals at home and buying generic brands of food and groceries under this Labor government's cost-of-living crisis. More and more Australians are buying canned food because they cannot afford to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Australians are turning to charities for support, with Lifeline and other crisis providers reporting huge increases in the number of families requesting their assistance, including, in many cases, families that have never before needed to turn to a crisis provider for help. Families are facing no option but to cut back on non-essential purchases.

According to the national youth mental health survey, the cost of living is the single biggest concern for young Australians. According to analysis by Deloitte Access Economics, at least 300,000 Australian households may be experiencing negative cashflow—more money going out than coming in—following the 10 interest rate rises on this government's watch. The St Vincent de Paul Society in Queensland has reported that more families, particularly young women, are being forced to sleep in their cars due to this government's cost-of-living crisis. The CEO of Foodbank in Queensland recently said:

As cost of living continues to rise, families are being forced to choose between keeping a roof over their heads and putting food on the table.

This is a very grim picture, and there is very little reason to be confident that this government has a plan to deal with it.

It is absolutely critical that there be a focus on inflation—getting inflation down, attacking those cost-of-living increases. That will be the test of this budget—whether it puts downward pressure on inflation. When inflation is high it erodes purchasing power, it eats away at savings and it lowers the standard of living. This is the central economic issue facing Australians—the need to get inflation down.

Fighting inflation with handouts is not the solution to this problem. We need a government which is addressing the problem of inflation at its source, not the symptoms. If Labor were serious about tackling inflation, it would build on the strong economic management that it inherited from the previous coalition government. It would restore the fiscal guardrails to the budget, including the goal of budget balance and including the tax to GDP cap. Is it any surprise that under this Labor government there is now no formal rule as to the maximum percentage of tax it says it will collect as a percentage of GDP?

Labor is seeking to distract from its spending plans by dropping to the media that the budget will be in surplus for 2022-23, but the real story is what happens in 2023-24, the actual year the Treasurer is preparing a budget for, and in the out years beyond that. A short-term surplus thanks to a one-off jump in commodity export prices and strong employment numbers inherited from the Morrison government is one thing, but a structural deficit over the next few years as Labor fails to get spending under control is very bad news for the Australians who are concerned that inflation will become entrenched and that their cost of living will go up and up.

The simple fact is: if this government does not get spending under control, this budget will drive more inflation. Unless this government limits spending, it will be adding to the cost of your mortgage, your rent, your groceries and just about everything else Australians need to spend their hard-earned money on. We need to see from this government and this budget a long-term approach to controlling spending. It is critical that the economy is growing faster than spending. That's how the coalition operated between 2013 and 2019, prior to a once-in-a-century pandemic, and it was that budget rule, that fiscal discipline, which produced the outcome of a steadily reducing budget deficit until we achieved budget balance. But that is very different to the psychology and the instinctive nature of Labor governments. There is nothing a Labor government likes to do more than spend and tax. We've seen the pattern with every previous Labor government, and already we are seeing the same pattern materialise when it comes to the Albanese Labor government.

In the October budget, we saw the Albanese Labor government add $115 billion of spending over the four years of the forward estimates compared to the budget brought down by the Morrison government in March 2022. There's another $45 billion of spending that we have opposed because that is not what our budget needs. It's not what our fiscal policy needs. It's not what we need as a nation if we are going to attack the core problem which is challenging the lives and lifestyles of every Australian—that is, the problem of inflation and ever-rising cost of living. As this government adds more spending, it also adds additional interest costs over many years into the future.

We saw a very traditional Labor approach in its first budget in October last year. We saw Labor increase spending, making the structural deficit worse, and we saw Labor abandon any formal goal of achieving budget balance. That's not a responsible approach. It's not good budget management, and we see now that, around Australia, Australian households and Australian families are paying a price for this government's poor management of the budget.

The other very important reason to keep spending under control is: if you're controlling spending, you don't need to go around raising taxes. Higher taxes are a huge problem. They kill aspiration. They hurt families. They delay the investment that provides jobs and helps small businesses to grow.

Australian families, every day, every week, are making very tough decisions about their household budgets. It is imperative that we have, as a nation, a budget that also involves decisions that address the fundamental problem of cost of living and inflation.

Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am really beginning to worry about those on the opposite side of the House. Maybe they're deaf, maybe they're a bit dim—I don't know! They seem to be throwing this question at us time after time, and we tell them time after time that we understand that the cost of living is hitting a lot of Australians hard. We understand that inflation is the defining economic challenge of 2023. It was in 2022—and, as the Prime Minister mentioned today, those opposite, when they were in government, had an inflation measure the highest this century has seen.

Australians understand that we did not create these challenges, but they elected us to take responsibility for addressing them—and we are. The Albanese Labor government is delivering the positive change that Australians voted for—and, can I remind them, that is including the good people of Aston. They recently voted for a Labor government, overwhelmingly—we had a wonderful Labor candidate in Mary Doyle—but they turned their back on the opposition. I am beginning to wonder if those opposite are not reading the tea leaves. Yes, we know there is a lot of work to do, but we are staying focused on easing the pressure on families and helping Australians manage their budgets. That is why the centrepiece of tonight's budget will be a $14.6 billion cost-of-living relief package.

The first phase of this, for example, is our cheaper medicines policy. That came into effect on 1 January this year. The cheaper medicines policy is an incredibly important policy for so many Australians who are having to choose between taking their medicines or paying the rent or putting food on the table. As a former health professional, I have had, from time to time, people telling me that they just take medicines every other day because they think that is cheaper. We know that it is important they take them every single day. Or they might miss a month or a week. Now, they no longer have to do that.

Tonight's budget will go further, delivering cheaper medicines for over six million Australians. We will halve unnecessary visits to the GP and the pharmacist just to fill a repeat script. This will save Australians up to $180 a year for every eligible medicine they buy. Thanks to my wonderful colleague here the Minister for Aged Care, Ms Wells, we are delivering a massive increase for our aged-care workers by giving them a wage rise, an $11.3 billion investment. That's a wage rise to some of the lowest-paid but most-valued workers in our economy, a wage rise which will actually help with the cost of living. Self-funded retirees will access a seniors card under this government, which will give them access to the concession rate of PBS medicines and bulk-billed GP visits. That is a massive saving for many, many retirees. These are just some of the measures that have been announced in my own portfolio of health and aged care.

Outside health and aged care, we have already announced electricity bill relief, which those opposite voted against. We have increased support for single parents. The Treasurer will have much more to say about that tonight, but we know that this single measure alone will have a massive impact on single parents struggling to meet the rising cost of living. We have successfully argued for a Fair Work Commission wage rise in line with inflation. We have introduced legislation that will drive investment in cleaner and cheaper energy, putting downward pressure on power prices. We are delivering cheaper child care, with one of the biggest investments in history in the cost of child care, which means that women can go back to work if they want to and will pay less for their child care. That, of course, will ease the cost-of-living pressures. We are delivering fee-free TAFE. You can't cut a cost of living measure any more than by making it free. This means that more people will get the skills they need to get good jobs—well paid jobs in our economy.

We are expanding paid parental leave. When I had my babies, there was no paid parental leave—none at all—and we had to struggle along on one income. It was a great innovation by the Gillard government to introduce paid parental leave, and now we will be expanding that even more. This will, of course, ease the cost of living for parents. We are building more affordable homes, including through the new National Housing Accord. If those opposite could just see their way through to supporting the National Housing Future Fund, we would be able to build a lot more. We know that increasing supply will bring the cost of housing down, which will, of course, help people with the cost of living. Pensions, allowances and rent assistance have all increased in line with inflation. We are going to improve the bargaining system, which will make it easier for workers to get wage rises and create gender equality in the workplace, making sure that women get equal and better pay.

Let's go back over some of these things I have said. What is it that those opposite don't get? We are easing pressure on families. We are introducing a relief package. There will be cheaper medicines and cheaper visits to the GP. We will have wage rises for aged-care workers and other low-paid workers. There will be downward pressure on power prices, cheaper child care, fee-free TAFE, expanded paid parental leave, more affordable homes and increased cost-of-living measures that will give more money to pensioners and people who need rent assistance. We will improve the wages of every worker in this country. They are all things that will actually help with the cost of living.

Let's have a look at the Liberal legacy. They suppressed wage growth—suppressed wage growth—as a deliberate design feature of their government's economic policy. The now Leader of the Opposition, the then health minister, ripped out, or tried to rip out, $50 billion from hospitals; he tried to increase the cost of scripts by $5 and charge every Australian a tax on their visits to their GP. When Labor was able to block this attack on our health system and Australians' right to access it, he hit them with a Medicare rebate freeze. He was voted, by Australian doctors, the worst health minister in living memory, and we know that wasn't for nothing. So what a legacy! Compare what I said before with its opposite—with what the opposition did when they were in government. The opposition charged a bigger tax; they raised the price of scripts; they froze the Medicare rebate. Such a stellar record from the Leader of the Opposition and those opposite when it comes to cost-of-living relief! I can't help but sit here and think, when I listen to them go on and on and on about caring about people struggling with the cost of living, that they're pouring crocodile tears all the way down their face. They deliberately designed a decade of wage stagnation, froze the Medicare rebate and oversaw a decade of shameful neglect of our aged-care system; they refused to vote for energy bill relief; they said no to every single proposal that we have put forward to help Australian households. And yet they stand there and ask the same question over and over.

Only Labor's government will do absolutely everything in its power to support Australians and Australian workers. We have given pay rises. We have given true cost-of-living relief. And this budget tonight will go even further than I have been able to outline tonight. It will be a sensible budget. It will give cost-of-living relief. It will manage inflation. It will repair the budget. It will clean up the mess that that government left from nine years of absolute neglect of this economy, of workers, of everyday Australians, because only Labor governments deliver real, tangible relief to Australian households. Australians know this. Australians voted for this. And only very recently did we see they voted for this in Aston.

When will they listen? When will they get this through their heads?

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

I thank the member for Cooper for her time in her career as a health professional, and I acknowledge the fact that she was the 10th president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. When you are heading a union body, wages are important, but so are real wages, and, when those opposite come in here and talk about wage increases, what they should be referring to is real wages, because real wages are going down. They are. Real wages—the take-home pay, the disposable income, of those hardworking Australians—are actually being reduced.

Now, I listened to you in silence, and you might give me the courtesy of listening to me in silence.

Sitting next to her was the Minister for Aged Care, and I acknowledge the work that she is doing in that portfolio. I acknowledge the work that she's doing in the ministry of sport. But when you go and you talk to people in aged-care centres, to those running those country aged-care centres—and I appreciate they're saying that there's going to be a wage jump for those workers tonight, and that's good—some of those workers won't have an aged-care centre to go to, because of the 24/7 nursing edict that has been placed on them by those opposite.

You get a good aged-care centre, such as the one I visited recently at Junee, and they are desperately worried that they won't be able to provide for their residents with 24/7 nursing. They can't find cleaners. They can't find cooks. They can't find people to change the beds, let alone 24/7 nursing. What are those aged-care centres supposed to do? And that is the case right over regional and, particularly, remote Australia, where aged-care centres are desperately worried.

We know that the price of groceries is going up. We know that Scott's Refrigerated Transport is going backwards; they've been placed in liquidation. I heard the member for Cooper, the assistant minister, talking about building more houses. Jolly good! But who are they going to get to build those houses—let alone the materials to build those houses? That industry is absolutely going backwards, unfortunately. It was going alright under the home ownership schemes that we put in place. But that industry, the building industry, is doing it tough at the moment, and not helped by those opposite. I listened to the Minister for Housing going on not that long ago about a million houses. Good luck building them! Good luck finding the people to actually be able to build those houses!

And then we come to students. You would think that those opposite would have placed students at the top of their expectations—at the top of their aspirations and the top of the care that they supposedly give. And yet the HECS debt is going to reach a 32-year high under those opposite. How do struggling students, such as those like Wagga Wagga's Maddison Dickinson—who still has, she says, about $6,000 to pay off on a HECS debt for partially completing a Bachelor of Paramedicine and a Bachelor of Arts—a 24-year-old, pay off her HECS debt when it's at a 32-year high? I don't know. Maybe those opposite could answer that question. Students are going to be hit with a seven-per-cent indexation rate at the beginning of June. Students are doing it tough, and all those opposite can do is to come in and say, 'Oh, well, we're bringing the budget back into surplus.' They haven't produced a surplus since 1989; Senator Claire Chandler wasn't even born the last time that Labor produced a surplus!

But the fact remains that they demonise the coal industry, they demonise the gas industry and they demonise the resources sector, which is providing the iron ore, the resources and the export cheques. Then they gloat about producing a budget surplus on the back of that resources sector—which kept us going during COVID!—and on the back of the agriculture sector, which kept us going during COVID. And they're hitting the pharmacists hard—I'll get onto that in the next speech I make in this place. But the pharmacists are doing it tough.

We have the assistant minister for regional health, a former pharmacist, belonging to a government which should know better. In some places, particularly in remote country Australia, the pharmacist is the only health professional in town. Why would you hit them so hard, to the point of closure? Why would you do that? It's all about the cost of living and they don't care! (Time expired)

Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Member for Riverina: you asked about those nursing homes in your electorate who are concerned about 24/7 nurses being put on and whether they can do it. You asked the parliament, 'What are they supposed to do?' How about they speak to the excellent Minister for Aged Care, who is sitting right there, about the supports and exemptions that are in place? If you are not referring them to do that, then you're not doing your job! You're not doing your job, because she has said so many times that she is there to help any facility that has trouble meeting the 24/7 nurse legislation. There are exemptions and there are supports. So instead of coming in here and having a crack at the minister, do your job and speak to your nursing facilities that have concerns. Tell them to get in contact with the minister, her office and her department, and they will help them.

That's because we are a government which brings in policies that make life better for people, and we do everything we can to implement them. That's as opposed to the last government, which did wonderful announcements and pretty good press releases, at times, but didn't implement anything. They didn't implement anything. I tell you what, if you want to find a minister who cares more about people than about herself and who works her fingers to the bone, then it's the Minister for Aged Care. Anyone who says differently—whose name might have an extra S in it—might look in the mirror and wonder what jealousy looks like, because then she will see it. The Albanese Labor government are doing what we can to address the cost-of-living issues that we inherited from nine years of wasted time, wasted spending and a lack of action.

In my electorate, my community saved $259,743.57 on PBS medicines in January and February of this year alone. That's $260,000 saved in my electorate, where there are pockets of some of the most disadvantaged people in Victoria, where chronic health problems are way above the state average and where we know how important it is to be able to access medicines. Since the Albanese government reduced the co-payment on 1 January of this year, more than 22,800 scripts in Dunkley have been cheaper. This makes medicines more affordable and accessible, it takes the sting out of the rising cost of living and it delivers better outcomes for people who are often in the most vulnerable position of their lives.

I put up a post on my Facebook page about cheaper medicines. Here's just one comment from Shaz:

soooo good… I'm on a lot of meds so it just makes life easier that it is so cheap to buy.

Elise wrote:

At a time when things are more expensive and cost of living is really tough, this is such a huge benefit.

Of course it is. And we are doing so much more to make medicines cheaper and more accessible.

I know how hard it is to remember to go and fill your script every 3½ weeks, when you can only get it once a month. I know what the Minister for Health and Aged Care says about medicine compliance being lowest at the time when you have to fill your scripts. I can't tell you the number of times I might have not been able to take my medicine for a day or two because I forgot to fill my script. I know the difference 60-day dispensing is going to make to vulnerable people who have chronic health conditions—not to mention the vulnerable people with chronic health conditions who are also struggling because they don't earn much money or they're on a pension. It is going to make the world of difference to those people. Those on the other side can come here with their rhetoric and their ranting and their made-up situations, but we on this side know that the measures we're putting in place are making life better for Australians. (Time expired)

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

Tonight, the Treasurer will stand at the dispatch box and deliver what he claims is a cost-of-living budget—a budget that he says will deliver cost-of-living relief for Australians who need it most. The thing is we've heard that before from this government. We heard it when they promised a $275 reduction to your power bill, when they promised cheaper mortgages and when they promised no changes to super, lower inflation, no higher taxes, no changes to franking credits—the list goes on and on. Every single one of those promises has been broken, and it hasn't even been 12 months. And the cost of living for Australian families continues to rise. Groceries and petrol prices are soaring. Fruits and vegetables have increased in cost by 4.9 per cent and dairy products by a whopping 14.9 per cent. Families simply can't afford it.

It's not the only thing that has gone up under this government. The last time Labor was in government, early childhood education fees skyrocketed by 53 per cent in just six years. In the last six months, already, out-of-pocket costs have gone up by 6.5 per cent. In only six months, they've gone up 6.5 per cent, and let's watch them go up further. Centres are struggling to cover the increasing costs of rent, of food and of wages, which means providers will continue to put their fees up. This leads to higher out-of-pocket costs, leaving families with less money to put food on their tables and to pay those bills.

And yet this government continues to promise families they will be better off after 1 July. It's just another broken promise waiting to happen. This government likes to bang on about how they know how hard it is to struggle, that Labor cares about you and that the Prime Minister cares about you. Families are resorting to buying canned food, eating out less, falling behind in their repayments, skipping vital car repairs and even mental health appointments to make ends meet. It's not good enough for Australian families. Charities are inundated with requests for support and assistance, and they simply can't keep up. Families are literally choosing between keeping a roof over their heads and putting food on the table. And while you've been trying to figure out how you're going to pay your bills, the Prime Minister has the gall to say, 'It's been a good 10 months.'

Well, maybe it has been a good 10 months for him. He has been gallivanting around the world, taking helicopters to barbecues and partying at lavish weddings, while you are suffering and can't pay your bills. When it comes to the Prime Minister, it doesn't matter what he says; it's about what he does, and his actions show time and again that he doesn't care about you or your family. Almost every day of the election campaign, the Prime Minister promised that he would show up and that he would take responsibility. Well, it's about time he did that.

Unfortunately for many Australian families, this cost-of-living crisis will continue to get worse under Labor. Australian families are making tough decisions about their own budgets. Inflation is eating into Australians' pay packets and real wages are going backwards, causing the price of essential household goods and services to skyrocket. This government must show that they are prepared to do the same: to drive down the rate of inflation through budget measures, not a one-off sugar hit. Inflation comes from Canberra; it's not coming from Vladimir Putin and it's not coming from the war in Ukraine. I know that those opposite like to pretend it comes from somewhere else, but it comes directly from them and their decisions. Unless the government limits spending, Labor will continue to add to the cost of your mortgage, your rent, your groceries and just about everything else Australians are spending their hard-earned money on.

I'm not holding my breath tonight about the budget for Australians and the cost-of-living crisis. The last time this lot were in government they spent billions on programs like school halls and the pink batts disaster, and cut essential funding for mental health and the PBS. They stopped listing medicines because they ran out of money. It sounds like they're reading more from their playbook; they have already cut mental health funding at the first opportunity. It's clear: you can't trust Labor to keep their promises. You can't trust Labor to run the economy, and Australians always pay more under Labor.

Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Two things magically happened on 21 May last year: the Albanese Labor government was elected—very exciting!—and the coalition suddenly realised there was an issue with the cost of living. It was a sudden realisation, because they didn't act on it during the nine years they were in government. Let's examine why their sudden interest in helping with the cost of living is such a charade now.

Act No. 1: under the coalition, the cost of child care went up by 41 per cent. Seventy-three thousand families were locked out of child care because they couldn't afford it. What did that mean? It meant kids couldn't get the early education we know is so critical and it meant there were fewer parents heading back into the workforce and contributing to our economy. And, critically, when it comes to the cost of living, it was a hit to household budgets. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to address this? We have reduced the cost of child care for 96 per cent of families across Australia. Approximately 7,800 families in my electorate are going to benefit from this. Over nine years, those opposite allowed the cost of child care to rise and rise. Under the Albanese Labor government, from 1 July we are making child care more affordable.

Act No. 2: power prices. This is probably where those opposite really excelled at acting. They acted like they were a government trying to come up with an energy policy. There were 22 attempts, but they couldn't deliver a single one, and, even when they had the chance to provide households with energy relief, they voted against it. Instead of siding with the Australian people, they sided with gas companies. They act like they care about reducing energy prices, but they voted for higher power prices. Contrast that with the Albanese Labor government. We have an energy policy that, first of all, isn't here after 22 attempts, and we are working our way through implementing it. We are upgrading our energy grid to enable more renewable energy to come online. Last year we capped gas and coal prices to shield Australians from the unprecedented international pressures on energy markets. We are acting on climate change and providing households with energy price relief.

In tonight's budget we are helping five million households and one million businesses with a reduction in energy bills. Those opposite couldn't deliver an energy policy, couldn't give energy certainty and couldn't help with power bills for households. What could they do? And here we come to the final act. Here's one of the few policies they had when they were in government—nine long years, and they had one policy: robodebt. It is extraordinary that those opposite can come into this place and pretend to care about the cost of living when they were the architects of robodebt. It was an illegal and immoral policy that had devastating consequences for the most financially vulnerable in our community—and they knew it. It was those opposite who hounded the most vulnerable with unlawful debt notices, chasing them for debts they did not owe. It was those opposite who decided to play the role of debt collector, scaring Australians who were already right on the edge.

Contrast that with the Labor government. In tonight's budget we are making it easier for those receiving the single parenting payment and JobSeeker. While those opposite put on the performance of a lifetime and pretend to care about the cost of living, we are actually taking action. For nine years under those opposite the cost of child care skyrocketed. They failed to deliver an energy plan and voted against providing energy price relief, and one of the few policies they had was robodebt. Today is performative. For nine years they did nothing on the cost of living. They may deserve a Gold Logie for their acting job today, but they don't deserve to be in government. That is why they were voted out on 21 May, and that's why they lost the seat of Aston, which is why we have the wonderful new member for Aston, Mary Doyle, amongst our ranks.

Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Reid for many of her remarks. I note that she has spoken about acting and Logie awards. I would just draw the House's attention and the member for Reid's attention to the Prime Minister's pledges that were made: household and business energy bills will be cut by $275—that's act 1; a real lasting plan for cheaper electricity and cheaper mortgages—that's act 2; Australians will be better off under a Labor government—that's act 3. When the current Prime Minister was opposition leader, he personally promised $275 power bill cuts no fewer than 97 times during the election campaign. Not only has the Prime Minister broken that promise; he refuses in question time to even answer any questions about power bills, and we saw that again today.

The energy crisis affects Australians. It affects Australian families. It affects Australian businesses. Under the Albanese Labor government life has become progressively harder for many Australians. This is despite the Prime Minister's claim only a few months ago that it's 'been a pretty good 10 months for most Australians'. Pretty good? Rather than Australians being better off, Australians are paying more in the economy that exists under this Albanese Labor government. Australian families are experiencing the largest fall in their spending power this century, as more and more families struggle with the crippling effects of inflation. Families are even resorting to changing their diets, with one recent report showing two-thirds of people have found it less affordable to eat healthily. This includes Australians buying canned food because they can't afford fresh fruit and vegetables. This is a great shame. More and more Australians are resorting to having meals at home and buying generic brands of food and groceries. Our banks are reporting more Australian families are falling behind on their repayments, and higher-risk customers can't get loans or refinance.

Recently, I spoke in this place about Caruso's Italian Restaurant, in the Sutherland shire. It was forced to close its doors permanently. They had been in the Sutherland shire for 17 years. Owners Rocky and Kerrin Pitarelli cited rising electricity costs, labour costs and staff shortages as reasons for their closure. More recently, in my electorate, Howling Forest cafes at Kirrawee and Kareela have closed, with proprietors Ange and Chad citing the current economic climate as the reason behind the closure.

Last week I visited local businesses in the suburb of Sutherland with the shadow Treasurer. Cafe 2232 owner George explained they've had to increase their prices by 30 per cent over the past six to eight months. Scott's Florist owner Trudy reported a doubling and tripling of the price of fresh flowers. At Left Bower Cafe, Luke cited rising energy costs and the cost of dairy as issues facing their trade. Mandy from The Beauty Loft stated she had suffered $1,000 in cancellations the last time an interest rate rise was reported. We are seeing more Australians with mental health concerns being forced to cancel appointments with psychologists because they simply can't afford them. Mortgage risk reports are showing more and more Australian towns and suburbs are entering mortgage shock. In my electorate of Hughes, over 22,000 households are mortgage holders. With an average increase of more than $1,400 per month, this is impacting Australian families directly.

The key test for tonight's budget is whether it will put downward pressure on inflation. The Albanese Labor government should deliver a budget with less spending to tackle its inflation crisis. Inflation comes from Canberra. After almost a year of inaction, Labor's budget must make bringing down inflation its No. 1 priority.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll start by saying that I know that families and households are doing it really tough at the moment, and it's a really challenging time. All households recognise that the cost of living has gone up, and it is an issue that my electorate talks to me about when I go doorknocking. However, I will remind the member for Hughes that, unfortunately, we've wasted a decade, with the coalition asleep at the wheel. A government needs to not only deal with the issues of the day but also plan for the future, and frankly, the coalition government had no plan for the future. The Albanese Labor government is cleaning up this mess.

Following the member for Hughes's political theatre metaphor, let's reflect on that: act 1, failure of the coalition to balance the budget; act 2, failure to create a single energy policy despite there being over 30 attempts to create a plan and not one effective policy to show for it. Act three: a failure to get wages moving again, and, instead, suggesting that low wage growth is a deliberate design feature of our economic architecture. You'd think the acts would end at the election of the Albanese Labor government, but there's an act four: the failure of the coalition opposition to even hold the seat of Aston. You have to credit their optimism, though. Before racking up $894 billion of debt, they bought themselves these mugs saying, 'back in black'. They're the masters of theatrics but not of substance—as Paul Keating would say, 'All tip, no iceberg,' or as Kathleen Studdert from Professionals Australia said, 'All mug and no coffee.'

It's no surprise that when we look around the mainland of this country that it's wall-to-wall Labor governments, because when it comes to action on the cost of living, Australians cannot trust Liberals. Debt and financial mismanagement is part of the Liberals' DNA. In WA, the powerhouse of our economy, we saw a boom squandered and our AAA credit rating lost by the Barnett Liberal government. But, of course, we've seen these characteristics in the previous coalition government. We saw not one or two billion but $13 billion worth of JobKeeper payments go to companies that increased their sales between April and September 2021. This happened without a single thought on whether they should pay this back, and, meanwhile, instead, we had debt collectors relentlessly pursuing individuals for $32 million in JobKeeper for overpayments.

Meanwhile, Labor is wanting to have targeted cost-of-living relief, and we're being careful to make sure that we don't feed the inflation dragon. I'll talk to what the Albanese Labor government is doing to help the people of Australia. In my electorate of Swan, we saw $442,439 put back into the pocket of those with prescriptions, thanks to our cheaper medicine policy. Tonight in the budget we will deliver further savings to households when it comes to hundreds of medicines. The Albanese Labor Government is easing the cost-of-living pressures for millions of Australians by allowing them to buy two months of eligible medicines for the price of a single prescription. Concession cardholders could save up to $43.80 a year per medicine, while others could save up to $180.

Our cheaper child care will benefit 1.2 million families from 1 July. We know that this will help ease the financial stress for families across the country, and 96 per cent of families will be better off financially through our increases to the childcare rebate. We're getting wages moving again. Australians on minimum wage received a 5.1 per cent pay rise at the outset of the Albanese Labor government. I know that some weren't prepared to support our lowest paid workers' pay increase of $1 an hour. Those on minimum wage have played important roles during the pandemic.

The Albanese Labor government supports aged-care workers. Last week the Minister for Aged Care announced an $11.3 billion package to deliver a 15 per cent pay increase to the award wage for aged-care workers. We're doing this because our aged-care workers deserved reward and recognition, for the important, invaluable role that they play in our community. We're working on the job of helping Australia.

Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I begin, can I congratulate those opposite, and the new member for Aston, Mary Doyle, on getting elected. That is a significant achievement for her, her campaign team and the Labor Party. But, all of that said, I have been in this parliament for not even a year, but I have been an observer of politics long enough to remember when commentators were talking about wall-to-wall Liberal governments and what that meant. I remember how fleeting that can be, because to be in power, at a state or a federal level, is the gift of the Australian people, and you have to earn that, not only on the day of the election but also on every day after.

There is no doubt, for those who will compare notes on the Aston by-election, cost of living was one of top issues. There will be an analysis of what happened—my party will do one and your party will do one, I'm sure—but it's clear that the people of Melbourne and, probably, the people of Australia, are giving you a chance. They're giving you a chance to solve their problems. When they give you a chance, for them, it's really giving you a second chance, because when you look at the promises that were made before the last election, those promises have been broken. You've heard those promises many times over: the several references to $275; the claims of real, lasting plans for cheaper electricity and cheaper mortgages and that Australia would be better off under a Labor government.

So you're being given a second chance, and, when you're given a second chance, I say, 'Don't waste it,' because I don't think Australians will give you a third chance. This is it—this is your second chance.

Tonight the Treasurer has one job and it's to reduce inflation. The reason that that's his most important job is that, at the moment, all that work is being done by the Reserve Bank of Australia—all of it. We can have a tit-for-tat about who is to blame: the previous government, or the last 12 months? And the truth is: it's a bit of both. It has to be a bit of both—it would be unreasonable to say otherwise. But what you do is on you, and what you do can't be to leave it all to the Reserve Bank.

There has to be a role for fiscal policy, because, when we think back to the latest, or the last, increase by the RBA, that was devastating for Australian families because it caught them off guard. They weren't expecting it. The professionals weren't expecting it. We saw it in how the market reacted. We saw it in how all of the commentators and all of the media, who are professionals at this, didn't expect it. One of the reasons it happened was that the RBA was addressing something that the government should have been assisting with, and that is core inflation. You can brag about where Australia ranks in inflation around the world, but core inflation—which excludes some of the variable items, of food and resources, which go up and down on a more variable rate—is the inflation that is 'sticky', that lasts longer and that affects people more. When the RBA saw core inflation being higher here than in any G7 country, then what you were doing, as to fiscal policy, wasn't working, and the RBA had to do it.

You may call it a cliche to say it's having one foot on the accelerator and one foot on the brake, but it is the most simple metaphor for what's happening. We need fiscal policy. We need the government to be working in tandem with our monetary policy, not counter to it.

Today in question time we saw a lot of hubris. We saw a lot of chanting. The responses of 'Why?' were repeated with great enthusiasm today. And we heard the same cliches again, of having inherited a trillion dollars of debt—said to be 'Liberal debt', even though half of that was inherited from the previous Labor government. And let's just forget that we had a pandemic! Let's forget about that, and let's forget that there were actual responses to that, which included your support of the pandemic debt. That's just conveniently forgotten. So, yes, debt is a massive problem. And guess what? There is a bipartisan element to that debt. But it is dishonest to ignore the pandemic and the important decisions that were made by the previous government and your support of those. In fact, you didn't just support them; you asked for them to be extended. Debt would be even higher if you actually had been sitting over there during the pandemic.

So you have been given a second chance. I say: the Treasurer, tonight, shouldn't waste it, because you won't get a third.

Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight, the Albanese Labor government is going to deliver the first budget surplus of an Australian government in 15 years. I hope I haven't given anything away, but I think everyone knows! That is remarkable. This is the first surplus since the global financial crisis. It is such an achievement—a significant achievement for the Albanese government in its first year. But, more than that, we are doing this while still delivering targeted relief to assist Australians with the pressures of the cost of living, because we know that the cost of living is front of mind for so many Australians right now.

Unlike that mob over there, we are focused on relieving the pressure on Australians doing it tough, because responsible economic management is about investing in our economy and our people. It's about providing sensible, targeted relief whilst making investments that set Australia up for the future. So that's a bit of a contrast to those on the opposition benches. I've seen the shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor, doing the rounds this morning with a number of pithy, albeit pathetic, one-liners. He said, 'A drover's dog could deliver a surplus.' That was his line! Well, what does that say for the opposition? Nine years of the previous Liberal government and they were unable to deliver a single one, but he says a drover's dog could deliver it. The poor drover's dog. He gives it a bad name. We should probably replace the Dog on the Tuckerbox on the road to Gundagai with a statue of Angus Taylor. In all his regal, imperious attire, he could be up there on the tuckerbox. It is remarkable that they are making that argument. It's a pathetic argument. In nine years they couldn't deliver one surplus, and we've done it in the first year.

They are led now by a leader of the opposition who, as health minister—let's not forget—tried to tax Australians $7 every time they visited a GP, tried to raise the price of every script by $5 and froze the Medicare rebate. That's the reverse of relief on the cost of living; it's the exact reverse of what you should be doing. Is it any surprise he was voted the worst health minister in living memory by Australian doctors?

Let's not just criticise. The government is helping so many Australians doing it tough. It's doing a lot, so let's talk about the positives. We've already delivered cheaper medicines, cutting the maximum co-payment for general patients from $42.50 to $30. This is going to save someone taking a single medicine up to $150 a year. We've reduced the cost for pensioners and concession cardholders so they will pay no more than $5 a week for all their medicine needs, no matter how many medicines they take. In September we cut the price of more than 2,000 brands of medicine, delivering $130 million back into the pockets of hardworking Australians. And tonight in the budget we will deliver—and you'll hear all about it—further savings to households when it comes to hundreds of medicines. For six million Australians we'll halve their medicine costs, reducing their need to visit the GP and the pharmacist, with $1.6 billion going back into their pockets over the next four years. These are sensible, targeted, measured relief measures that will make a real difference to Australians.

Also, when it comes to wages, the government is supporting wage rises for underpaid Australians. We know the best support for Australians struggling with the cost of living is a wage increase. These are wage increases they certainly missed out on under the previous government, who said, in their own words, that wage suppression was a deliberate feature of their economic policy. The Albanese government and the budget will deliver a 15 per cent increase in the minimum wage for many aged-care workers across Australia. The Minister for Aged Care is here, and I note all the work she has done on behalf of the government to make this happen. This is the biggest pay rise for the sector ever. It's never been this big. That is so significant for so many people. A registered nurse could earn up to $196 a week extra or up to $10,000 a year more. It will help address the injustice of underpayment for our nurses and for our aged-care workers, and it will help them with the cost of living. It's practical and it's real.

We've also addressed housing. Unfortunately, those on the opposite side and some on the crossbenches are opposing the Housing Australia Future Fund. It is crazy that they are doing that. This is about providing what is most important to Australians: a roof over their heads. And we'll hear about support for rental housing in the budget tonight.

In conclusion, I've just got to say we are committed to delivering real relief which will ease the cost of living for so many Australians—millions around this country.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This discussion has now concluded.