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

My question is to the Treasurer. Middle Australia is hurting. The Treasurer had one job in the budget—to reduce pressure on inflation, not increase it—and the Treasurer failed. Why has the Treasurer brought down a big spending budget which makes life harder for middle Australia?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Now I have heard everything. The party of deliberate wage stagnation and wage suppression have the nerve to come in here and talk about middle Australia, after everything they did so that middle Australia copped it in the neck on their watch. They have the nerve to come in here and ask about middle Australia.

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

The Treasurer will resume his seat.

The member for McEwan will cease interjecting. The Treasurer has been going for 20 seconds, but I will hear from the member for Hume.

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

I rise on a point of order: relevance. The question was about the budget. Middle Australia was in the talking points, not the budget.

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

The Treasurer can pick out of the question as he sees fit to answer. The member for Hume has raised points of order. I will ask the speaker to return to the question.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What would he know about relevance? I was asked about middle Australia and I'm talking about a budget which delivers for middle Australia.

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

The Treasurer will resume his seat. I will hear from the 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

The Treasurer is a serial offender, breaching standing orders about offensive words and reflections on members. He just sneeringly said, 'What would the shadow Treasurer know about relevance?' He ought to withdraw it.

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

I will hear from the Leader of the House.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The point of order from the Manager of Opposition Business just taken is to claim that a word those opposite use 27 times each question time is unparliamentary. That's what he just said. I know they are angry over there but, in terms of a point of order, if the word 'relevance' is now going to be unparliamentary, there are not many words left.

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

We are 30 seconds into the answer and we have had two points of order. I am going to ask the Treasurer to return to the question so we can get through this answer.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This was a budget for middle Australia: tripling the bulk-billing incentive for families with kids under 16, reducing the cost of medicines, energy price relief, the Household Energy Upgrades Fund, getting more Australians into home ownership sooner, additional TAFE and training places, enhanced liveability in our cities, more affordable early childhood education and care from 1 July, paid parental leave being extended, and superannuation paid on pay day. This was a budget for middle Australia. Those opposite presided over a decade of deliberate wage stagnation and wage suppression, which should disqualify them from asking questions in this place about middle Australia.

I was also asked to compare and contrast the experience of economic management and budget management under those opposite compared to the experience under us. I appreciate, I am grateful for, the shadow Treasurer almost every day but especially today, because he gives me the opportunity to remind the Australian people of the absolute bin fire of economic irresponsibility which defined those opposite's decade in office. The worst quarter for inflation was the March quarter of last year when they were in office. They handed down a budget which had $39 billion in net new spending when inflation was on the way up. After inflation starts moderating, our budget has a net spend of $20 billion, so half as much spending with an extra $40 billion in savings compared to zero savings in the last budget of those opposite.

In the bizarre alternative universe that they inhabit, those opposite want the Australian people to think that our budget, which puts downward pressure on inflation next year, versus their budget, which put upward pressure on inflation last year, is worse. They want to try and distract and hoodwink the Australian people. The markets know better and the economists know better. What the markets and the economists have said since our budget was handed down is that our budget achieves the core objective, which is to take some of the edge off these cost-of-living pressures without adding to inflation. We do that with the energy bill relief that those opposite voted against. We do that with the energy price caps that those opposite voted against. You have absolutely no credibility on middle Australia or anything else to do with it. (Time expired)