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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Families are feeling the impact of Labor's homegrown inflation, with the cost of almost everything going up. Food is up 10 per cent, housing is up 12 per cent, insurance is up 26 per cent, and electricity and gas are up 18 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. Why are Australians paying the price for the weak economic leadership of this Prime Minister?

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Order! Members on my right and left will cease interjecting. There's far too much noise.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm asked about where we are under this government two years in, which we will commemorate next week. What we inherited with energy was that energy wholesale electricity prices in the June quarter of 2022 were $264.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! Members on my left will cease interjecting.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the December quarter last year, they were $76. Gas prices were $31.76 in May 2022. In the December quarter of 2023, that was down to $11.60.

Of course, we will get to two years with the same Prime Minister. After they were elected, Tony Abbott didn't make it to two years. They brought in the 2014 budget. That ripped the guts out of education and health, led by the bloke who's now the Leader of the Opposition, with $50 billion of cuts in health, with a GP tax on every time someone would go and visit a doctor and with a tax every time someone would visit an emergency department.

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

Order! The Prime Minister will pause. The Minister for Skills and Training will cease interjecting so I can hear the Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order.

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

Mr Speaker, on relevance, the question is about costs today going up—food up 10 per cent, housing up 12 per cent and insurance up 26 per cent—not some kind of history lesson.

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

The Leader of the House on the point of order.

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

I think, in saying it's about costs, the Manager of the Opposition Business has just explained why this answer is in order.

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

The question, in anyone's interpretation, was very broad, because the question was actually about the price of economic leadership over the last two years, and there was a whole range of issues in the question. So I think, on anyone's definition, this was a pretty broad question, and the Prime Minister now has been specific with his answer regarding the issues raised. So I think everyone can agree it's very relevant.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They're embarrassed by their budget of 10 years ago, when we saw the coalition unplugged. We know that the inflation figure that we inherited was 2.1 per cent in just a quarter, and today annual inflation's at 3.6 per cent. On wages, of course, the biggest drop, outside of the pandemic, in real wages this century occurred in the March quarter of 2022—again, down 1.4 per cent. Our government has seen real wages rising for three consecutive quarters. There was a sluggish labour market under them. Under us, employment growth has doubled—780,000 new jobs created. Productivity under them was the worst in 40 years. Under us, it is up in the last three quarters. Business investment declined, under them, to the lowest levels since the early 2000s. Business investment has grown in every quarter under Labor—up 13 per cent in real terms.

But, of course, budget policy will be there for all to see tonight—something that would be familiar to them. They produced mugs saying that there was a surplus, but that's all it was. They treated Australians like mugs. They never produced a surplus in almost a decade in office. Tonight we will see the second surplus in a row, with a $9.3 billion projected surplus, following on from last year's $22 billion, which is better than the $78 billion deficit that we inherited from them.