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 failure in its third budget to help Australian families during a cost of living crisis".

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

Before the last election, the Albanese Labor Party promised Australians a great deal. They promised lower electricity prices—indeed, $275. They promised cheaper mortgages. They promised there wouldn't be any new taxes. They promised a lower cost of living. And they said that life would be easier. But after three budgets in a row, life is only harder for hardworking Australians. And every single one of those promises has been broken. We have just seen the third budget flop in a row. One's bad, two's awful but three is three strikes. It is a shame on those opposite that, after three budgets, they still haven't been able to deliver the most basic promises they made before the election.

The truth is that Australians are poorer under Labor. We know that the real disposable incomes of Australians have dropped by 7½ per cent in two years. We haven't seen that before in our lifetimes—7½ per cent in two years. And we see it on the ground wherever we go: pensioners struggling to pay their energy bills and pay for their groceries; hardworking Australians battling with a mortgage, working extra hours and not being able to pay for the kids sport because they have to pay their mortgage; young students who can't pay the rent because there's no spare housing for them when they come from a regional area to go to university. Australian after Australian is struggling because this government has failed to deliver on its most basic promises and has now delivered its third budget flop.

Those opposite claim that real wages have gone up. Well, the facts are there in the budget papers. I added them up for the three years of this term of parliament—I gave them the benefit of an extra year, because they're promising a lot for the next year. I thought, I'll add up the WPI, the wage price index, and the CPI over the three years. And guess what? The CPI prices go up faster than wages. Real wages go down under Labor. The minister has left the chamber, because he didn't want to hear the truth. He likes to spin his own story to Australians. But it's good to see the minister opposite here, who's an economist. He knows that, over three years, if the price index goes up faster than the wage price index, that means real wages have gone down.

Before this budget we said that there were three tests for the budget. The first is that it needs to restore Australians' standard of living to where it was before Labor made Australians poorer—before we saw this domestic, homegrown inflation that Labor has created and imposed on all Australians. We said that the second test is that they need to re-establish a pathway to prosperity and aspiration, opportunity for Australians that is led by business, particularly small business, because we know that it's not government that pays the bills in the end; it's hardworking Australians, who pay their taxes, and it's business that create opportunities and pay tax that can pay for our schools, for our roads, for our hospitals and so on. And the third test was that they would re-establish the basic fiscal disciplines that have been in place in this country since the 1990s, since the Charter of Budget Honesty Act was put in place by Peter Costello—structural budget balance, making sure the economy grows faster than spending.

This budget confirms that none of those tests have been met. Australians are poorer under Labor and will remain poorer under this Labor government. The fiscal disciplines that were established in the 1990s have gone out the window, and they haven't been replaced with anything other than this big-spending Treasurer's aspiration, which is purely political. We know where he wants to get to in the coming years. And the budget confirms that spending is up—$315 billion of extra spending across the forwards since Labor came to power. That is $30,000 for every Australian household. When I talk to Australians about how they're feeling at the moment, I don't hear anyone saying that they're $30,000 better off than they were when Labor came into power. In fact, I hear them constantly saying that they are worse off than when Labor came into power—because they are worse off than when Labor came into power.

Spending is growing faster than the economy, at double the pace. And when spending is growing faster than the economy, guess what happens? You go into deep deficit, and in two years time we're going to see a $43 billion structural deficit, and that is throwing fuel on the inflationary fire. Meanwhile, unemployment is expected to rise, with 175,000 jobs to be lost in the coming years under Labor as unemployment goes up to 4½ per cent.

In this budget we see that immigration is up to 1.67 million. Australians are struggling to find a home. When we left government we said that over the five years through to 2026-27 immigration would be under 1.1 million. By the October budget, just after Labor had taken power, they decided it should be 1.2 million. By the next budget, in 2023-24, the number had become 1.5 million. And then by the 2023-24 MYEFO it had become 1.6 million. In the budget that was handed down last night, over that five-year period it's just under 1.7 million. That's an increase of $600,000. Indeed, just in the year 2022-23 we saw an increase from 180,000 to 528,000 and, in the meantime, housing construction has not moved. They promised 1.2 million houses and even their own national housing supply council says they are pulling up short of 950,000 and most in the industry think it will be well short of that.

Many third parties have made comments about this budget. The economist Steven Hamilton called this budget 'downright reckless'. We saw the HSBC chief economist, Paul Bloxham, say that the budget supports underlying inflation rather than lowering it. University of New South Wales Professor Richard Holden says, 'Last year's budget expanded net spending by 0.8 per cent of GDP. This year it is 1.5 and those increases look permanent. They're inflationary, irresponsible and hard to reverse. They deepen and cement our structural budget deficit.' S&P, sadly, has said, 'We no longer expect the RBA to cut its policy rate in calendar (year) 2024,' as a result of this budget.

Australians are suffering not just from rising prices, and we have seen rising prices across the board—housing up 12 per cent, rent up 12 per cent, insurance up 26 per cent, electricity up 18 per cent and gas up 25 per cent—but they are also suffering from 12 interest rate increases under those opposite. It is clear this budget is doing absolutely nothing to bring those interest rates down. Cherelle Murphy from EY said:

… the 2024-25 Federal Budget needed to do three things: not add to spending, unless offsetting it elsewhere; change existing policy to lower spending and find new revenue that will persist over time to close the structural balance; and put in place policies to assist the private sector to maximise productivity growth.

What you see in this budget is it is not a budget for the national interest, not a budget for the hard-working Australians trying to pay their mortgages and make ends meet but a budget for this Treasurer and this Prime Minister for an election. That is what you see. This is not a budget in the national interest; this is a budget in Labor's interest.

Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If you want to know what the coalition really believe in, let's go back to the most unpopular budget of the past generation, a budget that commemorated its 10-year anniversary this year, the 2014 budget. The 2014 budget was preceded by then Prime Minister Abbott saying there would be no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no cuts to pensions, no changes to the GST and no cuts to the ABC and SBS. He vowed to avoid these things and he embraced every single one of them.

In that 2014 budget, the Liberal Party and the National Party said that under-30s would get no unemployment support for six months. In fierce discussions about the right level of JobSeeker, they thought the right level for young Australians should be zero. They said that pensions would no longer be indexed to wages but would only be indexed to prices, essentially saying to Australia's fixed-income retirees that they could no longer share in productivity growth in the economy. They said that HECS-HELP debts would be indexed at a faster rate, a strong contrast to what we said in this budget, which was that the indexation of those debts would be lower.

The 2014 budget, which commemorates its 10-year anniversary this week, had a $43 million cut to ABC and SBS. It had a $114 million cut to the CSIRO. It had deficits as far as the eye could see from a party that had promised before the election that they would deliver a surplus in their first year and in every year after that. And the 2014 budget ended bulk billing. I wonder who was the health minister who presided over that decision. Hey, that's right: it's none other than the Leader of the Opposition, the man who, when he was health minister, was voted by doctors the worst health minister in living memory.

What you saw last night from Labor was something very different: a budget that reduced Australia's debt burden, which under the former government was forecast to peak at 45 per cent of GDP and is now forecast to peak at 35 per cent of GDP, saving Australians billions of dollars in interest payments that no longer need to be made. We've delivered the second back-to-back surplus. This is something that those opposite hoped for and made the mugs for, but in the end they were the ones who looked like mugs, unable to deliver a single surplus in their time in office.

Since our coming to office, 780,000 jobs have been created in the Australian economy, and the unemployment rate is 3.8 per cent—full employment by anyone's definition. Our budget locked in a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer, meaning that four out of five Australian taxpayers get a bigger tax cut under us than they would have gotten under the former government. All Australian households receive a $300 energy rebate, the maximum cost of PBS prescriptions is frozen, and we're making important changes in the competition regime, strengthening the merger regime, reforming non-compete clauses and taking steps to make the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct mandatory. We understand that productivity is at the heart of living standards growth, and productivity and our investments in our people and infrastructure are at the heart of last night's budget.

Tomorrow night the Australian people will get to hear something a little different: they will get to hear the budget reply. When Malcolm Turnbull was shadow Treasurer, apparently he made a pitch to then opposition leader Brendan Nelson that it ought to be the shadow Treasurer who gave the budget reply, and I'm sure that the shadow Treasurer, Mr Taylor, has popped off to the Leader of the Opposition's office to make the very same pitch, because he would know, as so many Australians know, how little interest the Leader of the Opposition has in economics. I'm indebted to 'Bad cop: Peter Dutton's strongman politics', the latest Quarterly Essay, by Lech Blaine, which includes the following quote:

Dutton is the paperback version of Howard: the same message but less weight. Economics is not his emotional priority, beyond a tribal allegiance to tax loopholes for the rich; penalties for the poor; and hostility to trade unions. This is why he spends most of the time fighting culture wars. His grievances are well practised and sincerely held. But the moment he moves off his preferred turf, Dutton becomes clumsy and unconvincing.

Lech Blaine has gone and interviewed former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who says:

"Peter is not an original thinker … I cannot recall him ever having a positive idea in the times when I was with him in government."

Indeed, the former Prime Minister goes on to say:

"Peter wants to be Prime Minister … So he will say and do what he needs to get there. But he is not the sharpest tool in the shed."

The former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull isn't the only one with some choice words for the Leader of the Opposition. The member for Bass is quoted as saying:

"When I go to Canberra and sit in the party room with Peter Dutton, Tony Pasin and Alex Antic, I think: who are these people?"

She says:

"The Liberal Party has become One Nation lite."

Lech Blaine also includes a discussion of a point which is quite relevant given the points the shadow Treasurer has been making about billionaires. He recounts a moment when:

… Dutton boards a chartered flight to Western Australia … Australia's richest billionaire is hosting a "neon bush doof" at her Roy Hill Mine in the Pilbara. Dutton is flown to the shindig by WA billionaire Tim Roberts. The Opposition leader dons a high-vis pink vest for a happy snap with Rinehart … Pauline Hanson is also in attendance. But Dutton is the undisputed guest of honour.

…   …   …

A smoking ceremony is performed for the traditional owner of the Coalition: Gina Rinehart … This is Dutton in a nutshell. He kisses up and punches down.

And there's much more which I'd recommend to viewers in Lech Blaine's Quarterly Essay.

So the real question for the Leader of the Opposition tomorrow night is: what will it cost? I want to outline for the Leader of the Opposition five tests which ought to be simple for any opposition leader to clear in their budget reply—tests which could easily be cleared by the now Prime Minister, the former Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese.

First, what will it cost? If you're going to announce policies, show us how much they're going to cost. That's what the Parliamentary Budget Office is there for. Their resources are available. Don't give us uncosted thought bubbles; give us costed policies.

Second, what are you going to cut? The opposition was out there today talking about hundreds of billions of dollars of new spending—new spending which includes indexation of the age pension. So, if they're against these hundreds of billions of dollars of new spending, do they intend to reduce the level of the age pension? Do they intend to reheat the proposal for the 2014 budget, which would have become law were it not for the Labor opposition? Their proposal back in 2014 was that pensions be indexed to prices and not to wages.

Third, who will you take the energy bill relief away from? They're all out there saying that this energy bill relief shouldn't go to billionaires—despite the fact that the Leader of the Opposition's signature economic promise when he was running for leader of the Liberal Party was that the GST be taken off electricity bills, including the electricity bills of billionaires. So, if they plan to take away energy bill relief, who will they take it away from?

Fourth, what are you going to do for productivity growth and for wage growth? For all the conniptions of the shadow Treasurer, he simply needs to look at the Australian Bureau of Statistics website today, where he will see the wage price index, at 4.1 per cent, is higher than the consumer price index, at 3.6 per cent. Real wages are growing under us. Real wages were falling under them. Are we going to get any answers? I doubt it.

Fifth, where will those nuclear power plants be? We saw the promise from the Leader of the Opposition that he would announce before the budget where those nuclear power plants would be, but we've now got members of his own party room saying that they don't want it in their own electorate. The member for Gippsland says that his community wouldn't accept a site unless it was handed a significant economic package, and free energy wouldn't be enough. The Leader of the Nationals has expressed similar doubt about what's going to happen here. We know that the Liberal leaders in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland wouldn't lift their state bans on nuclear.

The coalition's policy on nuclear is falling apart before their eyes. The Australian people deserve certainty and clarity tomorrow night.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hooley dooley, there's been quite a strange question time and a strange start to the MPI from the member just opposite who spoke. They put out their budget this week, and you'd think they would take every opportunity to talk about their budget, talk about why they are proud of their budget, talk about how they think their budget's going to be good for Australian families, especially in relation to cost of living, but in question time all we saw from the Prime Minister to the Treasurer to a whole conga line of others was just wanting to talk about us. And it wasn't just talking about us; they wanted to go back 10 years. They wanted to talk about a whole long line of history.

I thought: 'Okay, so the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury just came in. He's supposedly one of their brains. He's not a union hack. He actually went to Harvard. He's got a PhD.' I went: 'Great. He'll want to talk about the budget. He'll want to talk about economics. He'll want to talk about cost of living—it's important—and why he thinks the government's policies are good for cost of living.' I thought: 'He's going to sound really academic. They always try to sound intelligent.' I was like: 'Okay, it's going to be great. I'm going to listen to an economic expose about why that budget they brought down was a good budget.' I was probably going to find it hard to believe, but I was at least looking forward to him having a go. It was worse than question time! He brought in a book. He was quoting Dutton from 10 years ago, who did this five years ago, who did—you know what that says to me about today's question time and about our supposedly learned assistant minister who just spoke? They've got nothing to talk about in the budget.

When they've talked about cost of living and the budget this week, their first thought wasn't, 'I'm going to go in and start to talk about this policy or what we've just done, about why that's good for cost of living.' They didn't think of that first; they thought they'd have a go at us—because they've got nothing to talk about in the fact of what this budget did to improve cost of living. And that is a real shame, because the average Australian family is $35,000 a year worse off than they were two years ago. That's not my figure; that's an independently calculated figure.

You might say, how can you say that? Let's break it up. What is the major component of that? Over $20,000 of it is the increased mortgage cost of an average family. That is the main thing. The main thing that has made the cost of living higher for an Australian family is interest rates. Have any of them mentioned interest rates as a topic today? No. Did the member who just got up mention interest rates? No. But we know why they haven't. It is because every economist who's been commenting on the budget this week has said, 'Uh-oh: danger,' because of the government's prolific spending.

It's a well-known economic correlation that when you increase spending you put inflationary pressures on. So a lot of the economists are saying there's a lot of danger in the budget, because the increased spending—they're spending $300 billion a year more than we were when we were in government—is potentially going to put inflationary pressure on. That means interest rates aren't going to come down. That's why some economists, such as Warren Hogan from Judo Bank, even talked about rates potentially going up. Why are they saying that? They're saying that because of what this government is doing.

That's why they didn't talk about. It's been quite amazing. I literally thought—wrongly; I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose—that they would come in today and talk about their budget and why they're proud of it, and I certainly thought that in the MPI today they would come in and talk about what they're proud of in their budget. Again, I think it highlights that they've got nothing to be proud of about it in terms of dealing with cost-of-living issues.

I did have quite a number of other things I wanted to talk about, but I've been distracted by the first speaker from the other side. I was going to go into energy costs and why they have gone up. We know they promised lower power bills, and I wanted to go through the reckless renewable targets they have. Forty per cent of your energy bill is from transmission lines. They want to build 28,000 kilometres of them, so we'll see how the power bills go with that. I wanted to talk about food inflation as well. We know Labor don't like farmers; we know that with live export and we know that with the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, the trucking tax and everything else.

Cost of living is a real issue. The government doesn't get it, and it's reflected in what they've been saying today.

Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is nothing more disingenuous than the Liberal Party, after a decade of government—of poor, wasted, pathetic, profligate Liberal government—coming into this place and pretending that they are on the side of working people, that they care about cost-of-living pressures. There is a reality here that, as frustrated as working people might be with their economic circumstances on any given day—and they can be very difficult, and they have been for a period of time—there is not one working Australian who believes that the answer is the Liberal Party. There's a temptation during these debates, when people roll in after a big night and beak off at the dispatch box with their misguided views about this and that, to engage directly with the matters they put on the table—the dead pig, so to speak. But there is a saying—and I'm not going to address it directly to any individual—that you don't wrestle with a pig, because you both get dirty, and the pig likes it.

I think when it comes to this particular debate, we need to focus on those very significant policy interventions that the Albanese Labor government have pursued in regard to easing the cost-of-living pressures on working people here in Australia. Obviously the budget came down last night, but we've actually been aware for a number of weeks now of the most important policy measure that our government are going to implement for working people to ease their cost-of-living burden, and that is Labor's tax cut plan: a tax cut for every taxpaying Australian. That's 13.6 million Australians who are going to receive a tax cut on 1 July. They won't have to fill out any paperwork. They won't have to go through a tedious process and wait for their tax return to come in—whatever the obstructive procedure that might have been put in place by the Liberals to prevent working people from accessing things they're entitled to. Every single Australian is going to receive a tax cut from 1 July. In my electorate, that's 73,000 taxpayers. The average household in my electorate, with two workers—a mum and a dad or whatever the combination of workers—will receive $2,856 a year. There is no more direct way to relieve cost-of-living pressure without adding to inflation than delivering the biggest tax cuts for Australians that have ever been delivered, and that is the centrepiece of the budget that Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down last night.

There is a fundamental principle behind this. Our government want Australians to earn more. It's why we've worked so hard to get wages moving again. Remember, Madam Deputy Speaker, that we had a decade of wage stagnation—indeed, real wage decline—under the former government. It wasn't by accident. To be fair to them, it wasn't a stuff-up. They had plenty of those, but this wasn't. They made very clear that it was a deliberate design feature of the economy they sought to build for the Australian people. We have wages moving in Australia once again, because we want people to earn more. The other part of that is that we want them to keep more of what they earn. We want Australians to have lower costs, and part of that lower cost base is dealing with rising taxes. That is why we have adjusted the stage 3 tax cut arrangements—why we have implemented a new plan that ensures every single working Australian taxpayer will get a tax cut on 1 July.

There are challenges. There are fiscal challenges in our economy. We inherited a trillion dollars of Liberal debt. There was a decade of stagnant productivity and the worst period of real wage decline in Australia's history, so there has been a lot of work to do, and in two short years we've halved the inflation problem. It should fairly be addressed that the cost of mortgages is related to the inflation problem. The inflation problem began under the former Liberal government. We are getting on with the tax cuts and the power bill incentives that will ease the cost of living. All those opposite can do is carp from the sidelines and crow about nothing.

Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy Affordability) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When we were away from this place over the last six weeks I spent a lot of time with small-business owners and manufacturers—everyday Australians—across Western Sydney. They told me that the No. 1 issue facing small businesses was energy costs. A gym in my electorate that was paying $13,000 for its energy bills is now paying $27,500. We've had double-income families lining up for meals at the two local food banks, Mama Lana's and Penrith Community Kitchen. Mama Lana's told me that not only have they been feeding people; they've also been paying people's energy bills so that those people don't default on them. They said they themselves are struggling. Their own energy costs are up 31 per cent a quarter.

A mother from Londonderry recently wrote to me saying that the cost of living in Western Sydney is too high and she's looking to sell up and move to a cheaper location in the bush. She's actually moving out of Western Sydney because she and her family just can't afford it. I've heard so many of these stories. Mums and dads are now taking their kids out of sport. What's particularly concerning, the local swim school told me, is that families are taking their kids out of swimming lessons. We saw this risk during COVID-19; we are now seeing it during a cost-of-living crisis, and Labor government is doing nothing to address it.

We are meant to be the lucky country, but we're not anymore under this government. The standard of living for Australians has collapsed by 7.5 per cent. Australians need hope, yet many of the measures in the budget handed down last night will just add to inflation and cause more economic tensions. We all know the country is facing immense inflationary challenges, yet the government seems to not want to even take any of the action that will prevent this. Mortgages remain high. Thirty-five thousand dollars—this is how much Australians with mortgages are worse off. Everyday Australians are just trying to get by, pay their bills and get their kids to school and sport. They might own a small business that is at risk of closing its doors. The Reserve Bank governor said inflation is a homegrown problem, which the Treasurer seems to want to ignore.

Western Sydney families are also struggling to keep up with the rising costs of insurance, rent and payments. We know that the cost of food is up 10 per cent, gas is up 25 per cent—I will come to gas shortly—and electricity is up 18 per cent, according to the latest inflation data. There are other households and small businesses that are doing it so much tougher under this Albanese Labor government, but, in true Labor fashion, even though they are talking up this minute $300, or $325 for small businesses, it really does not even scratch the surface when a business is paying $15,000 more on their energy bills.

The government released its gas strategy, and the backbench pretty much revolted. We know we need more gas supply in the domestic market as quickly as possible right now to assist in bringing down costs. When I go to heavy industry manufacturers across Western Sydney, they say 'We could put all the solar panels in the world on our roofs, but it's not going to make any difference at all, because we need gas.' We need gas furnaces to make the products to keep our manufacturing and our sovereign capability in this country. They want to do the right thing, but they need affordable energy, in the form of gas, to be able to do that.

Our Western Sydney builders, plumbers and sparkies are already dealing with inflated costs of materials. They're going to have to find thousands and thousands of more dollars to pay for utes and SUVs to do their job. Migration challenges will continue to put pressure on Western Sydney, and the budget does not adequately address the need for infrastructure in Western Sydney. We've seen funding ripped away from infrastructure and then put back again. The infrastructure minister expects everyone in Western Sydney to be really grateful for that money that she ripped away and then put back, repackaged as some sort of new funding, which it is not. Western Sydney is sick of being stuck in traffic. We're feeling the stress of the services that are at breaking point. And the cost of housing means it is becoming an unachievable burden rather than the hope of the Australian dream.

This budget has let down everyday Australians in Western Sydney and right across the nation. We deserve a government that will listen to the community and will act in their best interest.

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yet again, this is a matter of public importance where the opposition has failed to put any ideas forward to the Australian people. It's incredibly disappointing that they waste these opportunities day after day. The focus of this debate should be on what we can do to relieve households when they are experiencing cost-of-living pressures, not on partisan negativity.

On this side of the House, we know that many Australian families are under pressure. That's why our government is delivering responsible cost-of-living relief without adding to inflation. Our budget delivers on our previous investments in excess of tens of billions of dollars in cost-of-living relief to support Australian families. Just briefly, let's contrast our attitude to this moment in history with that of those opposite, who are full of negativity, always saying no to any ideas that we put forward, with zero plans or policies for the future.

Since we came to government, we have provided electricity bill relief, delivered cheaper child care, increased rent assistance, provided more Medicare bulk-billing, delivered cheaper medicines, boosted income support payments, provided over 300,000 fee-free TAFE places, expanded paid parental leave and got wages moving again, after a decade of stagnation and economic irresponsibility from those opposite. Of course, from 1 July, we are providing a tax cut for all taxpayers. It's a bigger tax cut for 84 per cent of taxpayers compared with the tax cuts proposed by those opposite.

Again, our government knows that many Australian families and households are under pressure. That's why, in the budget delivered by the Treasurer last night, we've demonstrated how we will do more to provide responsible cost-of-living relief without adding to inflation. Our support for households with cost of living will include $300 energy rebates for all households. We're providing $1.9 billion to increase Commonwealth rent assistance by a further 10 per cent, benefiting nearly one million households. We'll be cutting $3 billion in student debt for more than three million Australians. These changes will make student loans fairer, and that includes for over 23,400 people in my electorate of Chisholm who have student debt. We understand on this side of the House that household budgets are tight and that the impact of cost-of-living pressures and inflation are being felt in households across the country. It's great to see the Treasurer take responsible steps to assist with cost-of-living help.

All 13.6 million Australian taxpayers will receive a tax cut from 1 July. This means an average cut of $1,888 a year. This is significant; this will be felt by people. We know that there's always more to do, and that's why we have such a comprehensive cost-of-living package in our budget. We know that our cheaper medicines plan has made a real difference to people, who shouldn't be put into a situation where they are forced to choose between buying medicines or making other decisions. Our agreement with community pharmacies is worth up to $3 billion. We're making sure that there's a fairer deal for consumers at the supermarket checkout. We're investing $1.1 billion to pay superannuation on government funded paid parental leave. These policies are real, and they will make a real difference in people's lives.

We are investing $138 million to boost funding for emergency, food relief and financial support. I've visited my local emergency and food relief organisations, and they do a fabulous job. I'm really pleased that they're going to be able to continue to support our communities into the future. We've provisioned for higher wages for aged-care and childcare workers. Early childhood educators do such a wonderful job. I had the pleasure of meeting with many of them this morning, and they have told me that this step forward is going to be life changing for them and significant for their industry.

There is a long list of measures from the budget last night, and, in the time that I have left, I couldn't possibly go through all of our measures. But I think it's really important to understand that our budget is not the beginning nor the end of our government's cost-of-living relief.

We back everyday Australians every day.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thought we might get through the MPI today successfully without hearing the political spin from those opposite, but we didn't. The member for Hawke used the Treasurer's favourite spin line: one trillion dollars of debt. The awkward part about that mistruth from those opposite is the budget papers actually show that, when the ALP came to power, net debt was $517 billion, and they don't talk about the 30-odd per cent from Rudd and Swan. We won't talk about that. They talk about the one trillion dollars, which is made up, when it was actually $517 billion.

But the reason it's important we call that out is it just shows what this government is all about. It's about spin and it's about optics. It's not about providing solutions for the Australian people, and they know that every day. After two years of this government, Australian people know it when they put petrol in the bowser, when their energy bill comes in and it's up, and every time they go to the supermarket. When you listen to the Prime Minister and the Treasurer today, you would think the Australian people have never had it better, but the Australian people know.

Labor have failed in two years to address this cost-of-living crisis, and that's why community organisations have played an important role in filling the void. I'm fortunate in Casey—every member here is fortunate—to have community organisations that give back, and I want to take a moment to mention First Impressions Clothing Exchange in my electorate. It's a local organisation that empowers women for brighter futures, helping them to achieve their personal and employment goals. I had the opportunity to attend their fundraiser, a high tea to raise funds for their amazing work. Over $10,000 was raised on the day. I pay tribute to Renee, to Gus from Cire and to all the participants, mentors and everyone in the community that turned out. Over 150 people were there to raise funds and share their stories about how FICE and Cire are helping women in need.

We need these community organisations to continue to do this work, and I'll continue to support all community organisations in Casey, because, as I have said, they are not getting support from this government. The best they're getting is $15 a week from 1 July, which the government have talked about for four months. They've spent $40 million of taxpayer money to sell their $15 a week increase, but, at the same time, they made a decision last year to take $1,500 a year from the Australian people. They let the low- and middle-income tax offset lapse when they had the ability to step in and continue it. This government let that initiative lapse. They took $1,500 away.

They now celebrate a $15 a week increase, and now they're celebrating $75 a quarter—$75 a quarter!—for the Australian people, including for Twiggy Forrest. We haven't heard the detail yet. If you've got five houses, we think you get $1,500, because the Prime Minister didn't rule it out when he was asked today. If you're unemployed and you're in one household, you get $300. If you have 10 houses, you get $3,000. The Prime Minister had the opportunity to rule it out today. He didn't. If you're a billionaire, you get this money. At a time when food is up 10 per cent, housing is up 12 per cent, gas is up 25 per cent and electricity is up 18 per cent, you're going to get $75 a quarter from this government, and you're supposed to be thankful and praise them. How out of touch can you be? How out of touch are this Prime Minister, this Treasurer and this government?

What they need to do is treat the source, the inflation. Let's be clear: this is homegrown inflation. To quote the RBA governor, Michele Bullock:

The remaining inflation challenge we are dealing with is increasingly homegrown …

Homegrown inflation is at five per cent. The target band is two to three per cent. It is going to be harder and harder for the Australian people. Prices are continuing to go up every day, and all this Prime Minister and this Treasurer can offer is $15 a week from 1 July, after they've talked about it for four months, and $75 a quarter for 12 months. That's it, Australian people. You've been abandoned, because they don't have the answers to the economic challenges the Australian people face, and that's why they're trying to spin their way out of this situation.

Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Casey brought up opportunity, so let's talk about that for just a short moment. It has been two years, 17,520 hours, since the Albanese Labor government was elected by the Australian people. Surely—and I know we're all thinking this—the opposition by now would have formulated some sort of policy. Give us something. Give us anything. But they haven't formulated anything that could possibly help the Australian people. That's because all we've heard from these lacklustre Liberals and these negative Nationals is no thought, no policy and no vision—all the gear and no idea. To be fair, that has been their baseline throughout history, so we just need to give them a bit of credit on that.

Last night's federal budget focused on helping ease the cost of living for all Australians, and not just some but all Australians, whether they're in my electorate of Robertson on the New South Wales Central Coast or in Sydney, in WA, in Victoria—right across the country. We are addressing cost-of-living pressures because we understand and we know that people are doing it tough. We are committed to helping all Australians—and particularly those in my electorate of Robertson on the Central Coast—with price pressures, and that is through the energy rebate of $300. Similarly, for eligible small businesses there is an energy rebate of $325. This is excellent news for the thousands of households and businesses in my region who are currently struggling with energy costs.

The Treasurer also announced last night and again today at the Press Club that for a second consecutive time our government will increase the Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 10 per cent. This is following a previous 15 per cent increase made by our government this term—not last term or the term before; this term. We've done it twice. We have been helping with costs of living now throughout our entire term of government, and all we get from that side is negativity and nothing. I do not have high hopes and high expectations for when the opposition leader gets up tomorrow night and gives his speech. He's just going to give words and air. That is it. On this side of the chamber, with the Treasurer and the Prime Minister and every member of this government, we have substance, we have policy and we have vision for an Australia for tomorrow.

In Robertson, back to the increase in the Commonwealth Rent Assistance, this will directly impact 7,310 households, and that is a direct cost-of-living support to thousands of people on the Central Coast. For Australians with a HECS debt, our government will change the rate of indexation and wipe $3 billion from student debt. We will backdate this change to 2023, which will help 15,470 people in Robertson. Almost the same amount of people will benefit in the electorate of Dobell. That is 30,000 people on the Central Coast that will benefit from our changes in HECS.

As a practising doctor, I'm especially interested in how our government is providing for Australians in the health space. In last night's budget, our government made significant announcements to strengthen health care right across Australia and on the Central Coast. In that, we announced $4 billion to deliver cheaper medicines by freezing the PBS co-payment and adding more medications to the PBS. Since our government came to power and made a concerted effort to help ease the cost of medicines, people in Robertson have saved over $2 million in medication costs. What our new health announcement means is that pensioners and concession cardholders in Robertson will now not have to pay more than $7.70 for their PBS medications for the next five years. This is a phenomenal budget announcement that will assist thousands of people in my electorate of Robertson. This announcement will also save lives and will keep people out of hospital.

Our government will also establish another 29 Medicare urgent care clinics right across the country. I can speak to how impactful Medicare urgent care clinics are. They help ease the pressure on our hospital emergency departments and ensure patients receive bulk-billed services. Our one on the Central Coast is home to two urgent care clinics—one in the south in Umina Beach and the other north at Lake Haven. Already, combined, these clinics have seen thousands of patients bulk-billed. Our one on the peninsula has seen nearly 5,000 patients since it has opened.

The federal government is focused on delivering for all Australians across the country. It is fiscally mature and responsible.

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

We cherish those who plant trees under whose shade they will never sit because they have put others ahead of themselves. That is what Australians look for in a moment like the budget announcement last night. They look for a government, a prime minister and a treasurer who will put them before themselves. Indeed, when we have children come and visit us—we had some just before—and look down on this place in debates like this, they will ask themselves, 'Is this a group of people, a government, that will put our interests before theirs?' It's one of the reasons we have the Intergenerational reportbecause it's not about us; it is about them. When we make decisions in a budget, we are telling Australians about what matters to us and we are telling them and sending a signal of whether our priorities are them or ourselves.

Some say you cannot compare how a family manages its budget to how a government does. In some sense, they're right. And it's built upon an assumption that I reject. The assumption that it is built on is that governments are infinite and families are finite: governments will be here again and again and will never be called upon to finally settle a debt—future generations like the children above us can pay that off!—whereas families are finite. I reject that assumption because that is not how responsible families think. Families don't think like that. They plant seeds that become mature trees for their children and grandchildren to sit under.

First, I'd like to take you to the intergenerational report, the document that reflects the idea that we put other generations first. There is a graph on page 144 that matters to this country. It uses 2023 dollars—it is not adjusted for inflation—and notes the following: government spending in 2023 per person is at $25,000 per person. We saw reinforced last night that on current trends—not adjusted for inflation—that figure will hit $40,000 per person. That number is extraordinary—$40,000. It doesn't account for state government spending, it doesn't account for councils and it doesn't account for all of the other costs that people have. With an average wage of $93,000 and a median wage—which matters more because it is exactly halfway—of $65,000, we are on a trajectory that will see federal government spending account for two-thirds of a median wage. You don't need to be a futurist to know that that will bankrupt this nation. We won't be able to enjoy all of the prosperity, all of the security, or be able to tell generations beyond us that we will also plant trees that they can sit under. You can fairly say we are cutting them down.

So the question is: what does this budget do for future generations? Average families are $35,000 a year worse off, and they were given talking points. Families are making really tough decisions right now. We all have food banks in our electorates and we all know that the queues are out the door. But families who can still afford to put food on the table are making decisions about whether it is fresh or processed. They are making decisions about what type of meat is served. We are seeing fewer students come to Canberra because the cost of coming here is so high. We are seeing sport being cut, and we are seeing the heating turned off in winter and the air conditioning turned off in summer. These are the real decisions that families make for their budgets that provide important lessons for how we conduct ourselves here in this place.

There is no more important issue for future generations than housing and, right now, we are seeing a housing crisis. We are seeing young Australians on that median wage of $65,000 a year having to save for 12 years for a deposit—12 years! Even then, most of them will be rejected for the median price, so it is no wonder they are giving up. Australians are looking to us to have their interests at heart. They looked for that in the budget last night and it was wanting.

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

Deputy Speaker Claydon, you have been in this place longer than I, so I think maybe you will agree to this point: often times in this place, in this chamber, there are a lot of theatrics. There is a lot of important work that happens here, absolutely, but there are also a lot of theatrics and, let's be honest here, this matter of public importance that is being raised by the Liberals is pure theatrics. Because if it was anything else, if it was something of substance, then they would be standing up here to talk about their policies, their agenda to help households in this cost-of-living challenge. But instead, they have nothing. They have no policies. Actually, no—sorry, colleagues—they do have one policy. Their one policy is nuclear energy, which is expensive, difficult to deliver and probably not going to come on until the never-never. They still haven't named where those power stations are going to be but—Hansard, can we just correct that—they do have one policy. They do have their nuclear policy, details to be determined—hopefully, tomorrow.

I appreciate the member for Menzies' comments about how important this is, and the tree analogy was really apt, because the budget to us is anything but theatrical. It is deeply serious and important, and we are genuinely trying to make a difference to people's lives. We're doing that on two fronts. These are things that we have been solely focused on over all the budgets that we have been delivering: to drive down inflation and to provide cost-of-living relief to households.

You can see that the work that the Treasurer and the entire cabinet are doing to put downward pressure on inflation is paying off. It is working. They have delivered two surpluses. The last time an Australian government was able to deliver two surpluses was almost two decades ago, roughly around the same time that Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone. That is how long ago it was. We were able to do it because we showed spending restraint. So, from those opposite, how many surpluses were they able to deliver? They delivered lots of bravado. They delivered lots of mugs. They did a lot of cigar smoking. But how many surpluses were they able to give us? Big fat doughnut—zero.

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

I love doughnuts!

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

We all love doughnuts, absolutely, but we on this side of the House have been able to deliver two surpluses because of the spending restraint that we have shown. And, on the spending restraint that we have shown, 97 per cent of revenue upgrades have been banked—put back into government coffers. That's a responsible measure, a responsible step, that this government has taken. How much were those opposite able to bank when they were in government? Only 44 per cent, because they were too busy spending like drunken sailors.

Anyone who has a mortgage—and many of us on this side of the House have mortgages that we're trying to pay off—will tell you that the faster you pay down your debt, the less interest you have to pay. Because of the hard work that we have put into this budget to show spending restraint—and bear in mind that we did inherit a trillion dollars worth of debt from those opposite—we will save $80 billion in interest repayments, and that is a significant saving for all Australians.

I want to quickly end with all the important cost-of-living relief measures that we have put in place. The first is energy bill relief, and that builds on the energy bill relief that we have already given to concession card holders. How much would they have gotten under those opposite? Big fat doughnut again—zero—because they voted against the energy bill relief last time around, and all indications are that they're not going to support it again this time around. The second is tax cuts. If you are someone who is earning $40,000 a year, how much would you have received had we stuck with the opposition's stage 3 tax cut plan? Big fat doughnut again—zero—whereas you'll be $650 better off under us.

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

The discussion has now concluded.