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:

The government's incompetence and mismanagement hurting Australian families.

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

I don't think the Assistant Treasurer has ever been so enthusiastic to hear from me after that diatribe. This is an enormously important topic—the government's incompetence and mismanagement. Now comes the end of our bipartisanship, because it has been two long years since the Albanese Labor government has been in power. Of course, before the last election, over two years ago, they promised a lot. They promised a $275 electricity price reduction, they promised cheaper mortgages and they promised that Australians would be better off. Even before the national account figures came out today—dire figures that they are—the Australian economy was in dire straits. This Treasurer is nothing but the 'sultan of spin'; he pretends to be a Doctor of Economics, but he's not. He's a doctor of spin. There's a true Doctor of Economics over there, while I'm talking about those opposite; he actually is a Doctor of Economics. But not the Treasurer; the Treasurer's PhD thesis was on his mentor, Paul Keating. It was nothing more than a very long love letter to Paul Keating. But this is the guy who is running the economy right now. And when you look at the results, they're truly tragic, because Australians are poorer under Labor and Australians are poorer since this Treasurer has been in the role. A typical Australian family with a mortgage is $35,000 worse off than when Labor came to power.

Those opposite like to talk about real wages. Well, here are the facts on real wages. For a typical working family, wages have collapsed, on average, by nine per cent. Indeed, the RBA governor said at estimates today, that real wages have gone down. There's no debate about that at all. The latest CPI figures show that Labor's cost-of-living crisis is hurting hardworking Australians in extraordinary ways. The numbers are really quite extraordinary: food, grocery prices, up by 11 per cent; housing is up by 14 per cent; rent by 13 per cent; electricity by 20 per cent; and gas by 25 per cent. They were going to fix the gas price, but it's up by 25 per cent. Those caps are working, aren't they? Health is up 11 per cent; education is up 11 per cent; and financial services and insurance are up 15 per cent. And consumer confidence is entrenched at recessionary lows.

Inflation in Australia is too high, it's too persistent and it is homegrown. The RBA governor, again, is calling it as she sees it. She made it clear again today that it is homegrown inflation. In fact, we know that homegrown inflation is five times the imported inflation—we see that in the data. The Economist has again declared that Australia has the most persistent stuck inflation—it's stubborn; it's not moving—in the advanced world. Our core inflation is higher than in the US, the UK, Japan, Canada and the euro area, and we are the only country amongst these where inflation is not coming down but is going up. It's gone up since December. The Treasurer say it's all tickety-boo: 'No worries, all under control; I've got it steering in the right direction. Inflation is going up beautifully.' It means he gets more revenue, of course! It's great for governments: destroy the household budget to help the government budget. That's what he's doing. But we know that our inflation is unique amongst these countries, with core inflation in Australia going up. This is the path to ruin.

But that's before we even learnt what we learned today from the national accounts, which came out only a couple of hours ago. It's clear from what came out today that there are no winners under the Albanese Labor government. Australians are poorer again and Australians are worse off. It's worth going through some of the numbers. We all see the reality on the ground every day. We see it in the food banks and we see it in our mortgage belt areas, where people are struggling just to buy the basics of life. We see it when we go to sport in our electorates and see that families are struggling even to pay the fees for their kids to play local sports.

Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Homelessness!

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

We see it with homelessness, as the shadow minister says. We see it wherever we go, but we saw it today in the figures in a startling, startling way.

We see from the GDP numbers that this is the weakest annual growth since 1991. In 1991, Bob Hawke was the Prime Minister—until December. Of course, he was rolled by his Treasurer, who blamed the bad economy on the Prime Minister. Well, the bloke over there—he hasn't turned up—I'm sure will be blaming everybody, and ultimately the Prime Minister, because that's exactly what happened in 1991 and that's the last time we saw growth where it is today. We've seen negative GDP per capita growth—that's per person. That's the one that really counts, because what you feel is the economy on a per-person basis. That's how we see it. That's how families see it. That's five quarters of negative GDP per capita growth—five in a row. It just doesn't stop—1.3 per cent through the year.

We know that the only thing growing in the economy now is the population, and that is not how you make people better off. Again, they're extraordinary numbers that we see today. There are over 1.2 million more Australians than two years ago. We're a proud immigrant nation, but that is too many for our housing supply. It's too many for our economy to absorb and cope with. We're seeing it in the inflation figures; we're seeing it in everything as we get around Australia.

There is another extraordinary number in what came out today, which is the productivity results. It's true that the RBA governor made the point today—

We'll talk about this. I'm glad to take that interjection from the Assistant Treasurer, because he should have a look at the numbers. That has fallen by 5.2 per cent under this Labor government. Labour productivity has fallen by 5.2 per cent since Labor came to power.

By the way, it's important to note that the number that came out today is very different from the RBA's forecast, and that tells you the RBA has a very big problem with this government. The Doctor of Economics over there knows that if the government doesn't do its role, if it doesn't get it right on its policies, the RBA has to do all the work, and that's pretty damn hard work when productivity has gone backwards by five per cent—over five per cent—in two years. It's a diabolical position for the RBA governor to be in, but that's what this government has achieved, and Australians are paying a huge price for that—not surprisingly, when labour productivity has gone back that far. That has not happened since the data series on productivity began. This is the first time we've seen anything like it. It is completely unique. Those opposite like to say this has happened before; it hasn't happened before.

Household disposable incomes are down 7.8 per cent since Labor came to power. That's your standard of living. That's Australians' standard of living: real household per capita disposable incomes down almost eight per cent since Labor came to power. Labor makes you poorer, Deputy Speaker—that's what we see in the numbers. The result is that Australians are having to dig deep. Savings have gone almost to zero—0.9 per cent. People have given up. They're digging deep into their piggy banks because that's all they've got left. There is nothing else left. They're cutting back on any spending they can cut back on. They're working extra hours. They're having to work harder and dig deep into their savings. Australians are paying a high price for this government, this Treasurer, this Assistant Treasurer and their absolute ineptitude.

There is a better way. It's going back to basics, making sure that you align your immigration policy with your housing supply. I would have thought that was common sense, but it's not common sense to those opposite. It means making sure you don't spend money that you don't have to. Corporate welfare—those opposite love it. We've seen in estimates over recent days the waste from the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme: $600,000 for a speechwriter. I'll tell you what: the speech we got today wasn't worth that! There is a better way. It is about going back to basics and about getting Australia back on track.

Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The fundamental feature of the Australian economy under the Albanese Labor government is that there are more Australians in work, and they are earning higher wages than ever before. Over 840,000 new jobs have been created on our watch. Wages are moving again—in fact, wages are moving at a faster rate now than at any stage over the last decade. The good news is that, because of our tax cuts, Australians are earning more and they will keep more of what they will earn. We're also managing to repair the budget by delivering not one but two budget surpluses. We are paying down the debt that we inherited from this mob over here. Because of that, we are paying less interest on the debt that we inherited from the coalition.

Now, I listened carefully to the case that was going to be put against the government by the shadow Treasurer, and it boils down to two things. The first is that the Treasurer doesn't have a Rhodes scholarship, and the second thing is that it's taken more than two years for us to clean up the diabolical mess that they left us. Well, well we concede on both issues. If it takes a university degree from Oxford to deliver, then obviously we're not going to make the cut, but I put the record of Dr Chalmers, the Treasurer, against anything they have been able to deliver the 10 years they were in government, every single day. They promised budget surpluses each and every year and delivered nothing but coffee cups.

It is true that we haven't fixed the diabolical mess that they left us: a decade of waste and mismanagement, stagnant wages—not an accident but a deliberate design feature of their economic policies—and inflation with a 6 in front of it. We heard the member for Hume just now talk about the cost-of-living crisis. We have managed to halve the inflation that we inherited from those opposite. It is still too high, and there is more work to be done, but, if inflation with a 3 in front of it is a problem, can you imagine what they would have been thinking when they had inflation with a 6 in front of it, which is what it was when they left office?

The entry price to a discussion on cost of living is not what you say but what you do, and we know what they did on their watch. They delivered real wage cuts as a deliberate wage policy; a deliberate economic policy was wage suppression. They had the opportunity to vote in favour of energy price caps. They had the opportunity to vote in favour of energy bill relief and they opposed it. They voted against it. They had the opportunity to support cheaper medicines and they opposed it. They had the opportunity support higher wages and more secure jobs. Not only did they vote against it, but they have promised that they will reverse those policies if they have the opportunity after the next election.

Well, we've got a different plan. It's a plan that sees Australians earning more and keeping more of what they earn. It's a plan that sees a record number of Australians in work, and we intend to keep it that way.

Towards the end of his closing remarks, I was listening very carefully to what he had to say, and it was quite clear that the coalition intends to oppose our Future Made in Australia plans. When I talk to people throughout Australia, they yearn for a time when Australia can be a country that makes things again. I know that your electorate of Newcastle, Deputy Speaker, a proud manufacturing region, a region that has a proud history of mining and manufacturing and that has built on top of that a world-class university, has transformed itself over the years, just like my region in the Illawarra. But we want to ensure that Australia will continue to be a country that makes things again, and our Future Made in Australia plan will deliver exactly that, starting with a plan to deliver energy—the sorts of energy sources that are going to drive economic development not for last century but over the next century.

I hear the members opposite talk about the importance of gas, and I agree; gas will be an important energy source as a transition and a feedstock for many industries. But gas alone is not going to get us there. We need to ensure that we are generating from energy sources that are going to drive industry over the decades to come—that's renewables and hydrogen. We are going to back our capacity to develop a world-class hydrogen industry. We were looking forward to bipartisan support on this issue, but it is quite clear that the coalition don't support a future made in Australia. That begs the question, if they do not support a future made in Australia, what country do they support our future being made in?

We are backing the ingenuity and capacity of Australians. It's why we are investing in skills. It's why we are investing in more tradespeople in traditional and new trades. It's why we're investing to ensure we have the workforce that is able to rebuild the energy network that we are going to need for the century ahead. It's why we're investing in traditional trades and new trades. It's why we're investing in universities and university students as well. It's why we have wiped $3 billion off the university debts of hundreds of thousands of Australian university students. We're encouraging more kids that come from backgrounds like mine and towns like mine to go to university so they'll have the capacity to earn and to take their place in the labour market of the future.

This is what a government plan, which I support, leading into the future looks like. This is what a government plan which is dedicated to a future made in Australia looks like. We know we need to support Australians through the difficult medium term ahead. That is what our tax cut for every taxpayer is going to deliver on 1 July. Eighty-seven per cent of workers in my electorate are going to be better off. It will be 84 per cent nationally. It will be 90 per cent of women. Ninety per cent of women are going to be better off. They talk about bracket creep as if it's something that affects only higher wage earners. We know it's not. They talk about aspirations as if they are something that only high wage earners have, but we believe in the aspiration of every single Australian worker, whether they're a tradie, nurse, teacher, policeman or ambulance worker. Every single Australian worker has aspiration, and we believe that our tax cuts are going to deliver a better deal for them.

There will be energy relief for every household as we build the new energy system which will drive household power and industry over the future. There's cheaper child care. I see the shadow spokesperson is at the table. They're opposing it. We have a plan to ensure that we are getting more teachers and early childhood educators into child care, but we're also ensuring that child care is more affordable. It is sensible economic policy. It means that families can make a decision about whether they go back to work for an extra day because they can afford to, earn more money and have their kids in high-quality early childhood education.

There's stronger Medicare for every community, including getting bulk-billing rates up again after we inherited a system that was on life support under the mob opposite. They strangled Medicare to within an inch of its life. It is true. We concede that we have not been able to fix in two years every single problem we inherited from that mob, but we are focused on the task. Bulk-billing rates are coming up again. There are urgent care clinics in every region across the country. We are ensuring that we are providing support through cheaper medicines for those people who are relying on our medicines to live a standard of living and a quality of life well into their old age.

We've been able to manage all of these things through responsible management of our budget. The national account figures today put a spotlight on the fact that we have adopted the right economic policies. If we had adopted the policies of those opposite, their slash-and-burn strategies, we would have an economy going backwards and households doing it even harder than they are today. So we are going to stay the course. We can't fix every problem we inherited from them in two years, but we are on a path. More Australians are in work than ever before, earning more and keeping more of what they've earned.

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

When families are lining up at food banks and they're double-income parents, Australians are hurting. When charities feeding these people can't keep their doors open because their energy bills are skyrocketing, Australians are hurting. When small businesses are paying $15,000 more on their energy bills, Australians are hurting. When families with mortgages are $35,000 worse off, there couldn't be more of a headline that indicates that every single Australian right now is hurting. Under the Albanese Labor government, the cost of living has spiralled out of control. I can say this as I represent a community in Western Sydney that is experiencing this every single day. When we come out of this place and we meet people on the ground, if you walk down the high streets of St Marys or Penrith, they're not talking about what's going on in this place or the politics; they're talking about how much they are struggling to pay the bills.

It's right across the board in every single policy area. The cost of health is up nine per cent. The health minister absolutely slashed Medicare subsidised psychology sessions when people are struggling with the cost of living and need to see a mental health specialist. We know bulk-billing rates are suffering. They are not improving; they are going down under this government. The Daily Telegraph reported today that there is a two per cent drop in bulk-billing rates in Western Sydney. There are also many parts of this country where there are no bulk-billed doctors at all.

The cost of food is up 11 per cent. This is the issue. When you're going to a shopping centre as a member of parliament, people come up to you and actually talk about how much they're struggling to buy their families' groceries. My regional colleagues tell me time and time again how this government is decimating investment across the regions, whether that be the lack of infrastructure investment, attacking agricultural pursuits or making farmers pay tax on imports. Does the Labor Party not understand that these input costs need to be added, which makes food cost more? Education costs are up 11 per cent. We're moving up and up, and it doesn't matter if it is education, if it is health, if it is food or if it is rent. Rent is up 13 per cent.

Housing costs are up 14 per cent, and the government's solution is to try and be a part owner of your house. We've seen this attempted in New South Wales, and only 10 per cent of the places were taken up by participants. Maybe if the government was inclined to let people use their own money, their own super, to help buy a house, that would make some change for our first home owners. Perhaps getting inflation under control would assist too, given the massive increases in material cost for homes.

Petrol prices are really hitting families in Western Sydney. We rely on our cars to get to work, to get to footy training and to get the kids to and from school. Most importantly, do you want to talk about tradies, Assistant Treasurer? Our tradies use their utes to take tools and materials to build homes, to fix roads, to get to the new metro construction sites and to refurbish our much-needed hospitals, yet you've seen this government ram through the new vehicle emission standards without adequate debate. They actually shut down debate. This is just one demonstration of how this government has officially turned its back on blue-collar workers.

And, of course, we come to electricity, which is up 18 per cent, followed by gas, which is up 25 per cent. How do those opposite reconcile this when people are actually struggling to turn on their heaters this winter? Do they remember when Australians were told almost 100 times that their energy bills would be cheaper by $275? Last March, when asked by a journalist if Labor would reach that $275 reduction, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy said: 'Of course. That was what we indicated would be the impact by 2025, which is just next year.' It is absolutely extraordinary.

Small businesses and manufacturers are suffering too, and they want action on greater supply of gas into the domestic market so they can survive. You're talking about Aussie made? Backing our current manufacturers is what's going to continue manufacturing in this country. Small businesses need much more from this government, but it doesn't seem like they get it. Worse still, it seems like they just don't care.

Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'Incompetence and mismanagement'—it's a lot to hear from those opposite, when I think back through their track record in government. I'm pretty sure it was the former government over there that forgot to order vaccines in the middle of a pandemic—incompetence and mismanagement. The people over there gave us robodebt—most certainly incompetence and mismanagement. The people over there, for a decade, denied climate change—most certainly incompetence and mismanagement. The people over there ignored Australian women and had keeping wages low as deliberate design policy. I could go on and on. But it is clear that, if we are talking about incompetence and mismanagement in this place, it is certainly not something that comes from this side of the chamber; it is absolutely something that we had from 10 years of a Liberal-National government that could not deliver and who did nothing—a decade of denial and drift.

Since we came into government, we have been working hard to turn things around. We have made cost of living our No. 1 priority. We have delivered a budget that is for every Australian: tax cuts for every taxpayer; energy bill relief for every household; stronger Medicare in every community; we've wiped $3 billion off student debt—and I've talked to so many students in my community who I know that is really important for; cheaper child care, supporting women to get back into the workforce; cheaper medicines; and fee-free TAFE—again, this has been huge in my community, where so many people are taking up the opportunity to get the skills that they need to get the jobs of the future. And, of course, we are investing in affordable homes and social housing right around the country—another area that was grossly neglected under the incompetence and mismanagement of those opposite for nearly a decade.

We have done all of this while being in the position of looking at back-to-back surpluses. That's right. We're delivering not just the coffee mug but the actual surplus—the actual economic management that this country needs. While we've been doing this work, those opposite have spent two years essentially saying no to everything. They voted against energy bill relief, they have said no to cheaper medicines and they continue to say no to secure jobs and to better pay. They said no to our tax cuts, then they said yes and then they said no again, and I think they eventually said yes, but it's a bit hard to follow.

In general, the approach of those opposite is to say no. It is not to back in Australian families. It is not to back in Australian households. It is not to back in the work that needs to happen. We had the member for Lindsay just then take us through some of the greatest hits—the few ideas that are on the table. Using super to buy your first home, what a gift for young Australians! Those opposite would say to them: 'We'll let you raid your super now, most likely driving up what we know is already the very large cost of a first home. Then, when you come to the end of your life, after you've paid this inflated price for your first house and raided your super to do it, you'll have less money to retire on.' That is not fair. That's not a plan for the future. That is those opposite suggesting that young people in this country don't deserve support to get into an affordable house.

We have this matter of public importance today thanks to the member for Hume. It does seem like the member for Hume can't quite kick the habit of self-congratulation in this place. Well done, Angus, and thank you for bringing this on. Of course, we do see, when we see the member for Hume's record—

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

Is there a point of order?

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

Members should be called by their correct titles.

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

I'm sorry; I was in discussion.

Honourable members interjecting—

While we're reminding people of standing orders, if we're going to be conducting this to correct rules of debate, not only will we refer to members by their correct titles but I'll have no interjections from the seats. Member for Jagajaga, do you want these last remaining seconds? You'll cede your time?

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Waste Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Hume, of course, for providing us with this important opportunity to debate the welfare of the people of Australia and this government's poor effort in addressing their serious and genuine concerns. Regrettably, again today there was more economic data showing just how tough Australians are doing it. Whilst it was regrettable to see today's GDP numbers, they were in line with what everyone was expecting, because, as numbers of parliament, if you speak to your constituents, you'll be hearing a pretty regular catalogue of tough circumstances that they're facing right now and have been for some time. In fact, pretty much since this government came to power, Australians have been doing it tougher and tougher.

Of course, previous speakers from the opposition have talked about the ever-exploding household budget and how difficult it is for people to make ends meet. Whether it's their mortgages going up, their rents going up, utilities or grocery prices, they are having a real, meaningful impact on decisions people have to make around the kitchen table, cancelling family holidays they can't take this year, because they have to tighten their belts. They have to make sacrifices because, under this government, their costs are dramatically increasing. But what are their government doing while they're tightening their belts? Regrettably, it's the complete opposite. Over the last two weeks, we've had the usual entertaining spectacle of Senate estimates, and that has revealed some very interesting priorities that this government has. They're certainly not behaving like the people of Australia have to behave at the moment.

I think one of the most remarkable to me is the dramatic increase in the size of the public sector, with 36,000 more public servants in the coming financial year, compared to the last financial year of the previous government. That's a 15 per cent increase. For the first time ever, the Commonwealth of Australia—because don't forget these figures don't include uniformed defence personnel—will be employing more than 200,000 people. We estimate that cost is almost $24 billion over the forward estimates. So this government is spending an extra $24 billion on public servants. Not many constituents that you speak to in your electorates, when they talk about the sorts of sacrifices that they are making, would be expecting their government to be making decisions like that.

The Electoral Commissioner was asked to update us on the cost of the referendum we held last year. The commissioner made it clear that he was expecting the cost of the referendum to come in at around about the same cost as the last federal election. Well, the last federal election cost $522 million, so it looks like that referendum is going to cost half a billion dollars—something that the people of this country absolutely pole-axed at the ballot box, that never needed to occur and instead the government and Prime Minister pig-headedly insisted on pursuing. It looks like he's torched more than half a billion dollars on that referendum for the people of this country to say resoundingly they did not want what the Prime Minister was offering them.

We see across all departments, with an election year looming, all this expenditure on government advertising, whether it's advertising tax cuts that happen automatically; advertising the 'Made in Australia' program, which my friend the member for Casey has sensibly renamed the 'Made in America' program thanks to the most significant decision they've made so far being the PsiQuantum computing investment. There's nearly a billion bucks across the Australian and Queensland governments going toward a non-Australian venture. So there is the 'Made in America' policy of this government, which they're spending $54 million advertising to the people of this country in the next financial year, which happens to be an election year. I don't know if there are too many people watching the State of Origin tonight or who watch the nightly news that need to see ads about the 'Made in America' program of this government, because no Australian seems to be able to get any access to it, but it's clearly an attempt by the government to try to look like they're doing things about the serious concerns that the people of this country have, because the opinion pollsters are in there, telling the campaign hierarchy this government's got some problems and, if you can't actually solve any problems, which you've proved over the last two years, let's at least try to look like we're doing it. The best way to do that is to put nearly $200 million into taxpayer funded advertising in an election year. That's what this government's focused on.

Thank you to the member for Hume for the opportunity of this debate. I only wish it was one the government would listen to and then actually focus on doing something practical and tangible for the people of this country.

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

I reckon the member for Hume is the Dennis Denuto of the Australian political discourse. It's not a huge amount of value he adds to it overall. He sits behind the Leader of the Opposition in question time and throughout the proceedings of the parliament, and one would expect he is feeding through the very best advice to the Leader of the Opposition. We know the Leader of the Opposition's not all that interested in the Australian economy; he's never particularly taken a great interest. He has his head down whenever the Treasurer is on his feet, flicking through the Trading Post looking for jousting sticks. The reality is he's got that big old brain sitting behind him—the Dennis Denuto of the Australian political discourse—and you'd expect the best advice to be coming up to the Leader of the Opposition. If I was the Leader of the Opposition I would be expecting the best advice to be coming up. Sometimes he sort of turns and motions for it to come, and all that seems to materialise is that eternal offer of a glass of water that comes from the member for Hume. At the end of the day, it is apparent to everybody in this chamber and, more importantly, apparent to everybody in Australia that the member for Hume, in his position as shadow Treasurer, and indeed the entire Liberal Party haven't overcome their decade of waste and mismanagement in office, and they intend to continue to prosecute a policy vacuum when it comes to the economic interests of Australian households.

Now, 1 July is bearing down upon us. And on 1 July every single Australian taxpayer will wake up to a tax cut. Labor's tax cut plan will deliver tax cuts for 13.6 million Australians. In my electorate of Hawke alone 73,000 people will wake up to a tax cut on 1 July. They won't have to fill out forms, there won't be colour-coded spreadsheets, there won't be any bureaucratic process the Liberal Party can cut services from in order to access those tax cuts; they will be immediately available to every single taxpayer in Australia. This stands in stark contrast as an approach to the Liberal government of the last decade.

We have the cost-of-living challenges that our people face as our absolute No. 1 priority. What did we get from a decade of Liberal government? We got a trillion dollars of Liberal debt. That is the legacy of a decade of Liberal government—a trillion dollars of debt. I see the member for Casey smirking away over there; he and I have discussed this many times. A trillion dollars of Liberal debt is the legacy of a decade of waste and mismanagement from the Liberal Party opposite. And Australians have woken up to this fact, this false reality that the Liberal Party have projected for oh-so-long that they are the superior economic managers. They have been left by the Liberal Party with a trillion dollars of Liberal debt. And what have we done with the Australian budget? What have our Treasurer and our Prime Minister done? We have now delivered consecutive surpluses in the Australian budget—something that those opposite, despite the mugs, weren't able to do for nearly a decade. They made promises, they made political statements, they stood on their soapboxes, they projected their superior economic management skills but they could not get to a single budget surplus in that decade.

Not only are we delivering a budget surplus; we are also delivering on the cost-of-living measures that are so necessary for the Australian community. We are delivering tax cuts for every single taxpayer, as I discussed. We are delivering power bill savings; every single household will get a $300 rebate on their power bills. We've increased Commonwealth rent assistance by an additional 15 per cent. And we've wiped almost $3 billion in student debt, helping more than three million mostly young Australians who are training to do the jobs of the future that our economy requires.

I can hear the member for Longman; he's been carrying on up there all afternoon. It doesn't matter what you do to the member for Longman; he is still an absolute rissole. The reality is the Labor government is getting on with ensuring that Australians earn—

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Hawke may take his seat. The member for Moncrieff?

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

Reflections on members. I ask that the member withdraw that comment.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the purposes of assisting the House, would the member for Hawke please withdraw?

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

I also like rissoles, but I will of course withdraw for the purposes of the House. The reality is— (Time expired)

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

The member for Hawke was right about one thing: I was smirking and laughing when he used the one-trillion-dollar debt misinformation campaign that the Treasurer continues to run. The budget papers show it was $519 billion at the time, and that about 30 to 35 per cent of that was actually from the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years. The member for Parramatta would know that time well. I give credit to the Assistant Treasurer, that he didn't run with that mistruth. But the member for Hawke likes to, which says more about him than others.

It was staggering in question time today, when the Treasurer was asked about the economy. He said how great it's going, that Australians have never had it better and that the Australian government have it right on track. They're on track and the plan is working—those were his words. Well, what it shows is a Treasurer who is proud to have been in 18 budget lock-ups and talks about it like it's a great thing. But actually what it shows is a Treasurer who is disconnected from the Australian people, a Prime Minister who is disconnected from the Australian people and a government that is out of touch and disconnected from the Australian people.

I want to share the words of one of my constituents, James. His words need to be heard today, and maybe those opposite can understand that this is the impact on many in the community. In James's words:

This $300 energy bonus is just a slap in the face to us all.

I have always made sure all bills are paid on time.

I saved my arse off to purchase a house in Warburton. When all these rate rises have gone up, the price of fuel and the biggest 1, FOOD—it's tearing me down like nothing else.

My rates have still not been paid this year well over due now and the council really don't care either just want there money!

Most of us are at breaking point!

No money left to live yet I work full time, have a good job.

It's not like I'm lazy and can't be bothered.

I feel as though lots more could be done to help us Australians out of this mess that we find ourselves in.

I have never been so cash poor in my life. The kids are feeling it. My partner is feeling it.

We have even had to go to a food shelter for bread and veggies a few times to just feed the family.

We both work yet still not enough money to go round.

Go back only 5 years, I was earning less money yet able to save at least $300-$500 per week and still paying for everything.

Something is very, very wrong!

They say we understand Australians are doing it tough at the moment!

It's the wrong word!

We are at rock bottom!

I understand this will do nothing to help anything at all, but just feel like our voices are not being heard at all!!!!

It's a real shame what has happened to Australia.

It's quickly becoming the not so lucky country.

The government works for us as a whole, yet we all take the hit.

It's stupid!

James, thank you for having the courage to share your story. Your words have been heard in this House. And the hope is that the hubris of the Treasurer and the hubris of the Prime Minister will stop—that they will stop celebrating the supposed strength of this economy and celebrating the challenges to the Australian people.

Make no mistake: this is in the control of this government. I will quote this Prime Minister from when he was opposition leader, from 4 May 2022:

Australians are being hit with a triple whammy of skyrocketing costs of essentials, falling real wages and now an interest rate hike. They need a government with a plan to ease the cost of living.

That was 4 May 2022. How is that plan going, Prime Minister? How is that plan going for James, for the community in Casey and for the communities all across the country? If the Prime Minister had the courage to say in 2022 that he had a plan for the Australian people to ease the cost-of-living crisis, then he should stand at that dispatch box in 2024 and apologise to the Australian people—apologise to James and his family. The Prime Minister should admit that he has failed—his plan has not worked—because there is not one Australian who is doing it better today in 2024 than on 4 May 2022. This Prime Minister stands condemned for his lack of action— (Time expired)

Andrew Charlton (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Paris Olympics are coming up, and on this side of the House, we're very excited because, on the Labor side, we our own Olympian—the great Dan Repacholi—on the hunt for gold. Dan Repacholi is currently in Europe, smashing a few bull's-eyes and probably smashing a few schnitzels as well, I dare say. But it occurred to me that, on that side of the House, they might have their own shot at Olympic gold as well, because the shadow Treasurer today performed an absolutely beautiful triple-backflip. He performed a backflip and deserves a gold medal for hypocrisy.

Two weeks ago, the shadow Treasurer was running around telling everybody in Australia that the government's budget didn't cut far enough—it was too soft, it needed more cuts, it needed more savings, it needed bigger budget surpluses. But today, in the extraordinary Olympics-worthy backflip of the shadow Treasurer, he had a completely different message. Today, when the weak GDP numbers came out, he now thinks the economy is fragile. Two weeks ago, he wanted more cuts—he said it's a big spending budget. On 14 May he said it's a big spending con job. He said Labor has added $315 billion of new spending at a time when we need restraint. But today he wants us to know the opposite. Today he wants us to know that the economy is in dire straits, that consumer confidence is at recessionary lows. Well, which is it? Is the economy in desperate need of more cuts, as he said two weeks ago? Or is it weak and in need of support, as he seems to be saying today?

Two weeks ago, he wanted a bigger budget surplus and big budget cuts; today, he realises that those would have been a devastating outcome for an economy that is fragile in the face of a weak GDP and significant global challenges. And so, the most embarrassing moment of the day for the shadow Treasurer was when it was put to him that he should articulate his own fiscal position, and he couldn't. Of course he couldn't! Because two weeks ago he was saying we should spend less and today he's talking about the economy being weak. He cannot answer the question, 'What would you do?' because he is so confused. He's like Elmer Fudd, firing off bullets in every single direction, trying to land a shot. In fact, he has no coherent position, and every day he shows his own hypocrisy.

He's tried the backflip, he's hit his head on the diving board and, to make matters worse, this morning the Governor of the Reserve Bank gave him quite a slap. He tried to verbal the Governor of the Reserve Bank; he said that she had said that real wages were falling, that typical family real wages fell by nine per cent, but that isn't actually what the Governor of the Reserve Bank said at all. For the benefit of the shadow Treasurer, let me read the full quote from the Governor of the Reserve Bank. She said 'real wages have been negative' but then she said, 'they have started to rise, they are rising now'. What she was talking about when she said real wages have been falling was the record under the previous government. And what she explicitly acknowledged was that right now real wages are rising. That was the first slap that the governor gave to the shadow Treasurer, but she gave him another good one, which keen observers will have noticed.

She gave him a slap on the energy rebate. The shadow Treasurer has been briefing everybody over the last two weeks that the energy rebate will be expansionary, that it is unnecessary, that it will build cost a lot of money, that it will put up prices and that it will, ultimately, lead to higher inflation and higher interest rates. Unfortunately for him, the Governor of the Reserve Bank said exactly the opposite of that this morning. She said:

It is helping people who clearly are hurting at the moment. But I don't think it's material in terms of our forecast for inflation.

Ouch! The Governor of the Reserve Bank has said that the measures the government is putting in place to help Australians are not changing her inflation forecast, completely torpedoing the primary attack of the shadow Treasurer. If only he hadn't helped her by torpedoing his own attack today by confusing himself on the government's fiscal position!

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

I thank the speakers from both sides who have spoken before me. We've heard a lot of advocacy by metaphor today. The member for Hawke and the member for Parramatta jumped right in. We heard from Dennis Denuto. To the children upstairs, I can say that Dennis Denuto was a lawyer in a movie. He tried to help in a High Court case by passing water. But here's the thing: that was actually more helpful than what this Treasurer or this government is doing. So I'd like to take another metaphor. You all know The Simpsons. There are various characters. This government likes to use The Simpsons. In question time, it likes to refer to it. I want to pick a character that people are familiar with, Ralph Wiggum. You all know the meme; Ralph Wiggum says, 'I'm helping.' That's what we've heard from the member for Parramatta. Why should Australians complain, because, like Ralph Wiggum, you're helping? The government's helping.

We know that there is a delicate balancing act, and the member for Parramatta sought to show some sort of hypocrisy. How can you on the one hand say that the government should spend less and on the other hand say that the economy is weak? It's because there is a delicate task here, which is that we want to take the heat out of the economy but not crash it. There are three actors in that delicate task: there are families, who are doing their bit, and we heard from the member for Casey the brutal reality of how hard that is and the stress that comes with it; there is the RBA, with monetary policy, doing their bit; and then there is fiscal policy through the government.

The member for Solomon and I have both been on various Army exercises, including a commando one where you were told to do a delicate task: 'Here is your heavy pack, here is the distance you have to go, and you must get there within a certain window—not too soon, not too late. If you get there too soon, the mission has failed. If you get there too late, the helicopter has gone.' It doesn't help that delicate task if someone is saying, 'I'm going to jump in your backpack and say that I'm helping.' So Ralph Wiggum jumps in your backpack, and then, as you're trying to get through and balance this delicate logistics task that you have, and you're hurting and your feet are hurting and you've got other people whom you're responsible for, Ralph Wiggum reaches into your backpack, pulls out a chocolate bar and says, 'Here. Look what I've just given you: your chocolate bar'—your tax cuts—'How grateful you should be for what I'm giving you. I'm giving you something you already had. It's yours anyway. You can thank me later.'

Families who are doing it tough need better than Ralph Wiggum. They need better than metaphors from this government. The matter of public importance is:

This Government's incompetence and mismanagement hurting Australian families.

We know the brutal stories of how tough families are doing it. The median wage in Australia is $65,000. The average wage is $95,000. Everyone in this debate—all of us—is earning more than double that, so we must remember that, when families get an email with an extra bill or with a notice that says, 'You're overdue,' they feel that in a very brutal way, and not just in a personal way like cutting back on holidays and school trips and restaurants. Mums and dads who are responsible for their children know that they will have to cut back on things that they never thought they would, or should, have to cut back on. That's the brutal reality of families trying to balance this delicate task of their role in the economy and their role in their own households, and we must never forget that. When they see food go up and up and up and they're making choices about fresh or preserved, when they see energy costs go up and up and up and in winter, where we are now, they're turning the heating off and in summer they're turning the air-conditioning off, and when holidays are getting cut, that is the brutal reality of what families are facing now.

Of course, there are aspects of this that are not solely the government's responsibility or even, indeed, that of our own nation. There are worldwide pressures on inflation. In this difficult time, what you want more than anything is a government that is competent, and that means ministers who are across their brief. A government is made up of ministers in a wide variety of portfolios, and we have seen in the last few weeks incompetence after incompetence. Australians are noticing and we've heard comments. Australians have said, 'It feels like the wheels are falling off.' I always put the interests of Australia before my party and myself. You're still in power for at least another year. Put the wheels back on, get control and show some competence in every area that Australian families need.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With a topic this broad, there are many things where I could talk about the things that our government are doing to support Australian families, to manage our economy, to lay the foundations for future growth, to get inflation under control and to support people with the cost of living. But I want to focus particularly on an area that's really important not just for my community where I live but for all Australians around the country. I want to talk about the Australian Public Service.

I want to begin by addressing the continued attacks from those opposite on the Australian Public Service and on my community of Canberra that have just been non-stop over the last few days. We hear it in 90-second statements every day, we hear it in their speeches on legislation, and we've heard it today in this MPI—speech after speech, day after day. The people opposite are undermining the very institutions that serve all Australians and the very institutions that they seek to lead. They are suggesting that our investments to rebuild the Public Service is wasteful.

In his budget reply speech, the Leader of the Opposition had a crack at what he called 'office staff in Canberra' and said that he would reprioritise what he called 'Canberra-centric funding'. Just this week, the member for Wide Bay claimed that we are becoming a bureaucratic paradise. The member for Dawson said that we're a bloated bureaucracy that doesn't understand how the real world works. The member for Fadden complained about what he called a 'senseless proposal to take care of Canberra-centric public servants'. In fact, on Monday alone, the Hansard recorded a total of 59 occasions where coalition members used the word 'Canberra' with negative connotations—59 times in one day!

I just feel that this is part of a bigger problem for my city, my community of real people working hard every day, facing the same challenges and looking for the same opportunities that everyone else is, who then see the politicians in this place attack them and paint their city in a particular way day after day after day. It's an easy target for people. I feel that it is a real problem that it can be politically advantageous to attack Canberra in a way that is not true of any other city or town in Australia. Also, attacking the Public Service is an easy target.

But I am incredibly proud to represent so many Australian public servants who live in my electorate. It is a really special person that wants to make their career in the Australian Public Service. It is someone who has the national interest at heart. It is someone who wants to serve Australians in what they do every day. Having worked as an Australian public servant, I know that these are some of the most dedicated and professional people that you'll ever meet, working to serve governments from both sides with the same impartiality and dedication because they want to get the best outcomes for Australians. They want to get the best policies. They want to deliver services in the best way. But those opposite want to paint this false dichotomy that somehow there's—

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

It undermines democracy.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It undermines our democracy, as the member for Moreton has said, and it also creates this false dichotomy that there are public servants in Canberra and then there are people in business and there are farmers and there are people who are doing the important stuff. The fact is that, without those public servants, all these other critical parts of our economy cannot function. It's not only that I've grown up in Canberra, that my father was a career public servant and one of the most professional and hardworking people—I am so pleased to have his example—and that I represent so many but that I understand the way that democracy and our economy work and how critically important it is to have a public service that lays the foundations for that. Our public servants are the people who deliver the services we need every day.

After a decade of neglect, we had around a third of public servants who were actually contractors. After a decade of outsourcing and underinvestment, we are investing back into the APS to ensure that it has the people it needs to meet the expectations of Australians. We know that the former government artificially suppressed the size of the Public Service with an artificially low and misleading headcount augmented by a shadow workforce of tens of thousands of more expensive consultants and contractors.

And they let the veterans down, as the member for Solomon has said. There is also addressing waiting lists, the backlogs of visas and people making Centrelink claims. That's what our government's about: getting things back on track. (Time expired)

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The discussion has concluded.