Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2023-2024 and Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2023-2024, which provide additional expenditure in 2023-24. These bills provide funding for the general purposes of government for the fiscal year 2023-24. Appropriation Bill (No. 5) provides a further $2.1 billion for the ordinary services of government, including $1.17 billion for the Social Services portfolio. Appropriation Bill (No. 6) provides just under half a billion dollars for certain expenditures relating to non-operating costs, including payments to the states and local government. The majority of this—$452 million—is for the Department of Defence. This expenditure allows for a reclassification from operating to capital. The opposition will support the passage of these bills, as we have the passage of the initial appropriation bill 2023-24 and the additional appropriation bill in 2024.

The shadow Treasurer spoke previously on the appropriation bill as well, and said that Australians are poorer under the Albanese Labor government. Australians are paying the price for Labor's wrong priorities and bad decisions. He spoke about Labor's homegrown inflation, that the cost of living was up, that energy prices are up and that mortgages, rents and groceries are all up under the Albanese Labor government.

This budget fails a key test: to tackle inflation at its source. Instead of addressing the cause of Labor's homegrown inflation, Labor's spending is up by some $315 billion, which the member for Hume has spoken about. He also said that the average Australian household has been left $35,000 worse off. I'm seeing that in my own electorate of Petrie, where people were promised at the Labor campaign speech in 2022 that mortgages would be cheaper under the Prime Minister. The front page of the Courier-Mail and other papers two years ago was, 'You will be better off under me,' with the Prime Minister on the front page. But what's happened since then? This is what people need to know. Their mortgages have gone through the roof. The average person in my electorate is up to $35,000 worse off. Some might be $25,000 worse off. Some might be more. You've got to ask yourself: under the Albanese Labor government with the support of the Greens party in the Senate, how is this working out for Australians and the people of Petrie? I would say that it's working out poorly, that Australians were much better off under the coalition government and that, at the next election next year, under the leadership of Peter Dutton, the Leader of the Opposition, we'll make sure that we have policies that make Australians better off, not worse off like we're seeing under this current Albanese Labor government.

We are all poorer for the Albanese Labor government. It's just going from one thing to the next. The budget also fails the economic test the Shadow Treasurer set for the Treasurer. In these uncertain economic times, we needed a budget that got back to basics. That meant a budget that restored our standard of living. This doesn't do that. It doesn't matter your age. Whether you're retired or whether you're a young person just finishing uni, the standard of living has dropped under the Albanese Labor government with the support of the Greens party in the Senate. We needed a budget that restored prosperity and created opportunity for small businesses, for family businesses, to make sure that their costs weren't higher. That's passed on every day when people go and shop or buy the services that they need. We needed a budget that restored prosperity and created opportunity for young Australians and helped them into a home. We haven't seen that with this government, whereas the coalition has policies outlined by the Leader of the Opposition in the budget in reply that are aimed at young people, who would be able to use a percentage of their money in superannuation because we know that getting people into a house is the No. 1 thing that helps people.

We know that because we've seen rents go through the roof as well. I did a poll in my own electorate of Petrie the other day, asking people if their rents have gone up. Yes, most people's rents have gone up by at least $100 in the last two years. Now, that's a lot of money if you're on the minimum wage, on government services or even if you're on a good wage raising a couple of kids. If you've got 100 bucks a week extra, that's another $5,200 out of your own pocket—not to mention increases around grocery, energy, gas and electricity prices, which they were promised would be lower under the Albanese Labor government. We know that's gone nowhere. The $300 announced by the Treasurer in the budget doesn't even touch the surface. That won't even cover the increases that the people of Petrie have seen in the last two years since they were elected.

They were outdone by the Miles Labor government, by the way. The Miles Labor government offered all Queenslanders a thousand bucks, so, when everyone tuned into the Treasurer's budget a week or so later and saw a measly $300, they thought, 'What's that going to do?' So Queenslanders will get $1,300 due to the Miles Labor government and the Albanese Labor government, but guess what. It's still for 12 months. After that, you're all still paying higher again. The Miles Labor government want to get re-elected for a fourth or fifth term—whatever it is—in October this year, so they give you a little sweetener for 12 months, and then what happens in years 2, 3 and 4? Nothing! Everyone will be paying higher energy costs again.

It's the same with the Albanese government and their lousy $300. They'll give $325 to small businesses in Petrie. We heard in question time the week before last that a gym in Western Sydney had its energy bill go from $12,000 to $27,000. But don't worry; they're getting 325 bucks from this PM! Your bill's gone up 15 grand but, hey, we'll give you $325! Thanks very much! What's that going to do to gym membership? To everyone who wants to join the gym in the member for Lindsay's seat in Western Sydney or in my seat of Petrie: if the gym's energy bill has gone up by $15,000 under the Labor government in two years, what will that do to your gym membership? I can tell you what it's going to do. Your gym membership is going to go up. That's what's going to happen. Then you're going to have fewer people going to the gym and you're going to have higher numbers of health issues as a result of people not exercising.

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

Get rid of Jim! He's the problem!

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Get rid of Jim! Get rid of the Treasurer! Thanks to the member for Hume.

We will continue to put Australians first. That's what we'll do, because right now, under this budget, we're not seeing that. Labor's third budget has failed all three tests that the shadow Treasurer outlined for it. It has failed all three tests. But don't worry; since coming to government, they've delivered another 36,000 bureaucrats in Canberra. To put that into perspective, our entire Australian Defence Force, full time, under this government, has fallen below 60,000. We've got some 58½ thousand full-time Army, Air Force and Navy personnel, but in two years this government has added another 36,000 public servants in Canberra. What are they going to do? They're not going to join the ADF. They've allowed for an additional 36,000 full-time public servants in Canberra in two years but, to put that into perspective, they have allowed the ADF to fall below 60,000.

Once again, people in my electorate look at the Queensland public servants. In the last 10 years that Labor have been in up there, they've grown the Public Service by 60,000. That's just in Queensland. They've grown the Public Service by more than the entire ADF, which is here to defend our freedom and to make sure that there's a deterrent here in Australia. The government has absolutely failed on defence in this budget as well. The Deputy Prime Minister talks about all this extra expenditure, but it's all in years seven, eight, nine and 10—in some third term, if they get that. What about right now, today, in the first term? What are they doing there now? We're not seeing the expenditure. As well, we're actually seeing numbers of defence personnel fall.

Labor's decisions are also making inflation worse. For people listening and for people in Petrie, under Labor, as the shadow Treasurer has been drumming up, there will be another $315 billion of spending over the forward estimates. Think of the last coalition budget and the figure there. They've added $315 billion. But the Treasurer says, 'This isn't adding to inflation. Don't worry. Your mortgages have gone up, your rents have gone up and your cost of living has gone up because our inflation is higher than that of most of the rest of the world, including all the European Union, but we're adding another $315 billion in spending.' How can that not add to inflation? How can that not add to rents and mortgages being higher for longer? When people have a shower and cook their food at night with gas, they're paying more for that in the middle of winter. That has all gone up under the Albanese government. When people go to the check-out down at Aldi, the IGA, the Superbarn, Woolworths or Coles, the cost of their groceries has gone up.

These Labor governments try to shift that all onto local businesses. Meanwhile they're increasing regulation, industrial relations and energy costs, and they wonder why people are paying more. It is because this government, the Albanese government, keeps putting more and more costs and more and more red tape onto businesses, and people in my electorate, people in the electorates of the member for Hume and the member for Perth, and people right around Australia are all paying more. That's the reality. Extra spending doesn't take pressure off inflation; in fact, it makes it worse. The RBA governor has said that inflation is now homegrown, and independent economists, as the shadow Treasurer has outlined in a number of speeches, have all said that this budget, the Treasurer's budget, is a flop and adds to inflation.

Labor have trashed the standard of living in this country. They promised a lot two years ago and they'll promise you a lot in May next year, but you cannot believe a word of what they say, because this Prime Minister has been proven to break election promises. He did on the stage 3 tax cuts. He came in here today to talk on the appropriation bills, Deputy Speaker, and he said, 'Everyone's getting more under our tax cuts.' He promised he wouldn't change tax cuts at all. 'My word is my bond,' he said.

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

That's what he said.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's what he said. He promised everyone: 'You can vote for me. I'm not changing them.' Guess what? He has completely changed them, and he's reintroduced bracket creep. A whole new tax rate, 37 per cent, has been put back into what was legislated under the coalition. I think that in my own electorate there are about 10,000 people who will be impacted by that, who are going to be hit with an additional seven per cent as well as all the costs of living. The government goes on about wages going up. That's great. They've gone up a little bit—that's good. The problem is that inflation and the cost of living are way outstripping the amount by which wages have gone up. It means that families are 7½ per cent worse off than when Labor came to office. Over the last two years of the Albanese Labor government, family budgets have been absolutely smashed. The Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, is aware of that and the shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor, is aware of that. Higher mortgage repayments and higher taxes under this government are bad for Australians. That's why the Liberals and Nationals will take to the election next year policies that will help Australians. The Prime Minister, once again, promised not to change taxes on unrealised capital gains in superannuation and on franking credits. He's also broken his word on that.

After three Labor budgets, the average person in the electorate of Petrie is worse off. There is nothing in this budget that restores what has been lost. Families are doing it tough. Small businesses are doing it tough. The latest inflation data shows that under the Albanese Labor government prices across the board have risen by close to 10 per cent. Food is up 10 per cent. Housing is up 12 per cent. Gas is up 25 per cent. Electricity is up 18 per cent. 'Remember this in May 2025'—that's what I'd say to the people of Petrie and people right around the country.

Deputy Speaker, those opposite have also funded in this budget some 'future made in Australia', but there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered about this by the minister opposite. Where are the 100,000 jobs in manufacturing that have been lost since he came to office? Under the coalition government, under the shadow Treasurer, there were a million jobs in manufacturing during COVID. Now this guy gets up and says, 'Oh, there's 900,000 jobs in Australia.' In the last two years, 100,000 jobs in manufacturing have vanished, yet now the propaganda of those opposite is 'a future made in Australia'. We know that in this budget there's money for unions and money for a Treasurer's spin unit. And there's money for some sort of future made in Australia, when they've already lost 10 per cent of manufacturing jobs. With insolvencies at levels not seen in a decade, under the Albanese government people are doing it tough.

What we can agree on, of course, as the shadow Treasurer has outlined, is the $3.4 billion in life-saving medicines added to the PBS; a billion dollars towards accommodation for women and children fleeing DV—don't forget that the Morrison government delivered a lot in that space, 6,000 places; and $20,000 for the instant asset write-off, which should be extended to $30,000 and made permanent.

Let's just have a quick look in Petrie. There's nothing for Petrie—nothing, right? First of all, they got rid of the Stronger Communities grants, which were really important for all the local not-for-profit organisations in our electorates around Australia. The Albanese Labor government axed the lot—all gone for Stronger Communities. So $2,500 to $20,000 for local people—it might be for local sporting equipment or for solar, to help reduce their energy bills, on their roof. This program ran for years under the coalition government. If you want that back, the only way you're going to get that back is to vote Liberal and National in 2025. Under the leadership of Peter Dutton, that's what we need. There's nothing from this government for Stronger Communities. This provided some $150,000 for groups in Petrie every year—and it's been axed, I'm sad to say.

I've spoken with the Prime Minister, on last year's budget as well, about other funding required in Petrie, and, once again, it hasn't been given. The NRL Dolphins need a high-performance centre that will also benefit grassroots sporting organisations in Petrie, including Redcliffe High students. We wanted $15 million for a high-performance centre. That has not been funded—left out again. What will that cost to build later on, with inflation? It's going to go up even further. For the Tigers AFC, the Aussie Rules club, there was a fifty-fifty agreement with the Moreton Bay Council to fund female change rooms. The Prime Minister has not funded that for the people of Petrie either.

The Aspley Memorial Bowls Club needed a cover over their second green in Aspley. At the time, two years ago, it was $600,000. To build that now is going to cost $1.3 million. There's no money for that from the Albanese Labor government. The Redcliffe Leagues Softball Association needed $500,000 to upgrade a new clubhouse, which would have been done to help with regional competitions, with the Brisbane Olympics coming in 2032. To build that will now cost $1.3 million, and the Albanese Labor government has also left that out.

Peninsula Power Football Club, one of the best little football clubs in Australia, right in my electorate—they're not in the A-League but they're right behind it; in fact, they're probably the 17th best football club in Australia. There is nothing there for LED lighting. Once again, the Albanese Labor government has been found wanting when it comes to these clubs in Petrie.

To the Aspley Hornets: I was out there on the weekend watching their football club play well, and they absolutely smashed the competition. We wanted new female change rooms there. This weekend the Aspley Hornets women's team is playing, and I encourage you to get down there and watch them this weekend. The coalition, the Liberal National Party, committed at the last election $780,000 to help build new female sports clubs, and there's nothing in this budget from the Albanese Labor government, nothing from the Prime Minister—or his sports minister, by the way, who's in the neighbouring seat, the member for Lilley. What's she's doing to advocate for the local area? Absolutely diddly squat—that's what she's doing. The Aspley Hornets are missing out because the Albanese Labor government is not focusing on Queensland.

I don't know what the member for Moreton is getting over there, but Petrie did very well under the coalition government and under the Albanese Labor government—absolutely nothing.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Release the colour codes!

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I bet you, Deputy Speaker Vasta, that the member for Moreton did alright under the coalition too! I don't know how he's going, but Queensland is missing out under the Albanese Labor government.

Let me talk about Linkfield Road. Six years ago, when Malcolm Turnbull was Prime Minister, we funded 80 per cent of that, to get that built. We've got a local member up there who's now been made the transport minister—a bloke called Bart Mellish, the member for Aspley. The bloke's done nothing in six years. Linkfield Road has been hit over and over again by trucks that are heading along Gympie Road to get to the Bruce Highway. This should have been built, and the Palaszczuk-Miles government have just not done it.

There's a whole lot of other infrastructure programs as well—not just Linkfield Road but other bridges like the Gateway Motorway upgrade between Bracken Ridge and Pine River; that hasn't been done. The Beams Road overpass also hasn't been done. There's no new money for that. The Miles Labor government were supposed to start that in 2021, when Annastacia Palaszczuk was still the Premier, and there's been nothing under the Miles government. It still hasn't started three years later, after they stuck it up on a billboard saying that it would start in 2021. In 2024, it still hasn't been done. This is an absolute debacle from Labor governments in Queensland and all around the country.

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

The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour. If the member's speech was interrupted, he'll be granted leave to continue when the debate is resumed.