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 mismanagement causing inflation to run out of control.

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, Labor promised Australians a great deal. They promised cheaper mortgages. They promised lower electricity prices. They indeed promised a $275 reduction in electricity prices. But most of all they promised Australian families that they would be better off. What they certainly didn't promise is that Australians would be poorer under Labor. But, over the last two years, despite the great hope Australians had—and Australians are fair-minded people. They'll always give a new government a go. Sometimes, I wonder about the wisdom of letting this lot have a go, but they had a go, and we've got to respect the last election. But they're trusting, and they've given this lot two years to do what they said they were going to do. But the truth of the matter is that in recent months we've seen a complete and abject failure to deliver on those promises.

What we saw yesterday in the inflation data that came out is an absolute shocker. Most importantly, as a result of what we saw yesterday, Australians are losing hope. Labor promised that the hard times that Australians were experiencing under them—the 12 interest rate increases they'd seen, the sharp increases in prices, the 20 per cent increases in personal income taxes being paid—were all temporary, that there was light at the end of the tunnel, that there was a way through this. They spun it, day in and day out. That's all the Treasurer does. He's not a doctor of economics, of course; he's a doctor of spin.

But he has been running out of spin in recent weeks because what we have seen are Australians losing hope. The light is not there at the end of the tunnel. Indeed, we have seen homegrown inflation continue to surge. The promise was that it would keep coming down. But for four months in a row we've seen core inflation rising, not going down. It was promised that it would go down. He said, 'There would be a bit of zig and zag.' Well, there's no zig and zag; it's only going one way, and that is up. That is up. And he is in complete denial about it because he thinks he can actually change the economy with spin. You can't. You've got to do it with substance. You've got to do it with real policies.

The inflation problem, as the Reserve Bank governor has told us, is homegrown. It has come from Labor's policies—the wrong priorities, their wrong policies. We see this in the numbers that came out yesterday. Core inflation has gone up to 4.4 per cent—up. I never thought I would have to say this. The hope was that, at the very least, it was going to stay where it was, but it has gone up. Headline: 'Inflation—up to four per cent.' But here's the real tell-tale in this. The real tell of what's going on is that non-tradable inflation—that's the domestic stuff; that's the homegrown bit—is 5.32 per cent, and it's up. It's the high bit. For tradable inflation, the important bit, they love to blame the Ukraine. The Ukrainians are going through a tough time right now, and they don't need the blame from this Treasurer for our inflation. But the good news for them is that it's not their fault, because tradable inflation—imported inflation—is only 1.6 per cent.

When we look at the prices that Australians are having to wear right now, it's quite extraordinary. Since Labor came to power, food is up 11.4 per cent; housing 14 per cent; rent 14.2 per cent; electricity 21.5 per cent; gas 22.2 per cent; health 11.1 per cent; education 10.9 per cent; financial services 16 per cent—and it goes on. That's not the end of it. Financial services up 16 per cent—the Assistant Treasurer is doing a great job there, isn't he? He really is! It continues to surge under those opposite.

That is only part of the economic disaster that we're seeing in front of the country at the moment because we are in a household recession with GDP per capita going backwards for four-quarters in a row. In fact, it hasn't gone up for five-quarters. That's a real household recession. So not only are Australian households seeing sharply rising prices; they're also seeing that GDP per person is going backwards.

Despite what those opposite love to say, real wages have collapsed. Here are the numbers. The member for Parramatta had a go at trying to say otherwise but the facts speak for themselves. For a working family, the employee living cost index is employees who earn real wages. The employee living cost index is up over 16 per cent since Labor came to power and nominal wages are up by less than half of that, so real wages are down by 8.9 per cent since they came to power. That is about the purchasing power in your pay packet. What counts is how much your pay packet can buy, how much the money in your bank account can buy. Those opposite are completely mystified by all of this but that is how it works and that has been a complete calamity for Australian households.

The data we saw yesterday was totally demoralising for Australian households because it sends a strong signal that interest rates are not going down any time soon. The response in the last 24 hours by markets and economists to this has been to say interest rates are not coming down and it is worse. Over the next 12 months there is real probability of an interest rate increase. In August, the Reserve Bank will have to think hard about whether the absolute abject failures of the three budgets handed down by this government are such that they will have to raise rates. But one thing is clear: they are not going down anytime soon and Australians are going to continue to pay a very high price for that. The Treasurer's answer for that is to hand down a budget where he attempts to manipulate the inflation data. Well, I don't think the Reserve Bank governor is going to take any notice of that absolute nonsense.

But it gets worse, because we are absolutely at the back of the pack internationally in dealing with this problem because across peer country after peer country, inflation is coming down as it goes up here. Since December, Sweden is down 2.3 per cent, the UK is down 1.6 per cent, Japan down 1.6 per cent, Norway 1.4, Canada down 0.8; New Zealand, Euro, US, Switzerland, all down. In Australia, which way has inflation gone since December? Up. Four months in a row we have seen it continue to rise.

We see economists commenting very quickly on this. They did not take much time. Dr Jim is certainly running out of spin on this one, because they are telling the truth there. Chris Richardson has said, 'Governments have abandoned the field in the inflation fight.' Abandoned the field! 'We are fighting the inflation fight one-handed.' It sure is not the Treasurer's hand that is doing any fighting. Governments are throwing a lot of money at the symptoms of the cost-of-living crisis but are making it worse. That is what Chris Richardson says.

David Bassanese, a highly respected economist, said this price report is an absolute 'shocker' and 'places huge pressure on the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates in August'. Canstar's Steve Mickenbecker says the ABS data is 'diabolical'. Moody's economist says Labor's policies 'risk injecting a bunch of new spending into the economy as the Reserve Bank of Australia desperately tries to tighten households' purse strings'—another failure. Shane Oliver said, 'As a result of the May inflation data, the risk of another hike in August is now around 45 per cent.' There is no talk of a rate cut anymore; it is all gone under the policies of this government.

There is a better way. It is about going back to basics. It is about getting the supply side of the economy right. It is about not fuelling inflation. There has been $315 billion of extra spending since Labor came to power. That is $30,000 for every Australian household and, I tell you what, I do not hear many households say they feel anything like better. In fact, Australians know they are poorer under Labor because they are poorer under Labor. There was $450 million on a failed referendum, corporate welfare, grants for the union movement, funding of spin units in the Treasurer's office and elsewhere. That is not how you get inflation down. There is a better way. It is about getting Australia back on track by getting back to basics.

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

I love getting a lecture from the member for Hume on power prices because there's not a person in this parliament who is more responsible for the high prices that Australians are paying on their electricity bills today than the member for Hume—not one person in Australia who is more responsible for high energy prices than the member for Hume. I'm not just referring to his squalid attempt to hide from Australians the fact that, on his watch, he was approving an increase in Australia's electricity bills of 20 per cent, as bad as that was; on his watch he was personally responsible for destroying 22 of their own energy policies. Is it any wonder why Australians are paying more for energy prices today than they should be, because for our nine long years in opposition the member for Hume was responsible for white anting, undermining and ensuring that not one of the energy policies they tried to put together ever landed.

The member for Hume puts three succinct propositions before us, and I will go to each and every one of them. The first is that Australians are doing it tough, and we acknowledge that. We know Australian households are doing it tough, and inflation is higher than we want it to be. We know that, as Australians are attempting to put their household budgets together and juggling all the bills, they're doing it tough, which is why we are doing what we can in a responsible way to provide some relief for them, whether it's energy bill relief, childcare bill relief, relief on their medicines or relief in other areas. We are doing what we can in a responsible way.

The member for Moncrieff wants us to spend more but the member for Hume wants us to spend less! But we acknowledge that Australians are doing it tough; there is no doubt about that. The important thing is what you're going to do about it.

The second proposition the member for Hume puts out there, which we freely admit as well, is it has taken us more than two years—and it will take us more than two years—to fix up the diabolical mess they left us. There is absolutely no doubt it will take us more than two years to fix up the diabolical mess they left us, whether it was the skill shortage and the skills deficit they left this country in because they woefully underinvested in skills development or a very, very lazy approach to skills shortages—if we had a short-term skill shortage anywhere, we just imported people. They whinge about immigration now, but that was their skills policy for nine years; their skills policy was an immigration policy. We think we have an obligation to train Australians first and give young people leaving school today their first crack at a job. Whether it was the largest budget deficits on record—I have to say, the member for Hume was blowing a lot of hot air. Inflation is running at four per cent; that is too high, and we want to get it down. He left us with an inflation rate of six per cent. We have managed to bring inflation down by over two per cent over the last two years, but we need to get it down further; there is no doubt about it.

They lecture us about spending. I ask members of the House to consider this: their last budget was handed down in March 2022. When inflation was running at six per cent, they handed down a budget in March 2022 with a $78 billion deficit. I'll say that again: with six per cent inflation running into an election, they handed down a budget with a $78 billion deficit. They want to lecture us about fiscal rectitude. These are the doctors of drongo economics. They lecture us about a responsible budget. We have taken over the last two years the necessary steps—

The high priest of drongo economics, the eponymous member for Barker, has got a lot to say over there.

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

Members, I have allowed you to be interjecting throughout this. Member for Petrie, no more. Member for Barker, no more.

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

It is up to the member for Barker to explain why it was responsible economic management to hand down a budget with a $78 billion deficit when inflation was running at six per cent. That is the record that they left us. We have been working assiduously over the last two years to bring the budget back into balance, and we have done that, banking over 90 per cent of new revenue to pay down the debt that they left us. And, because we have been able to pay down the debt that they left us, we are paying $80 billion less in interest rate payments. We have been able to manage the fiscals, and we have been able to bring the budget and the debt down.

If you're going to complain about the cost of living and put that in issue then you've got to have a plan to do something about it. Whenever we have brought propositions before the parliament to help Australians, they have opposed every single one of them. Whether they are the sensible, modest and moderate reforms that we've made to workplace relations laws to enable Australians to bargain more fairly and more evenly, particularly low-paid Australians; whether it's supporting applications for an increase in the minimum award wage; or whether it's ensuring that women and workers in highly feminised occupations get a decent pay rise—and I point to the aged-care pay rises that we worked with the unions and the employers to secure—right across the board we are ensuring that we have provided better pay and higher wage increases for Australians over the last two years than the deliberate design policy of those opposite, which was to see wages go backwards. They have opposed every single one of them. Consider the investment in skills and the investment in health. For the life of me, I cannot understand why any member of this place would want to vote against a proposition which saw pensioners and people doing it tough pay less for medicine, but they did. They opposed those propositions.

The third proposition that we're invited to accept from the member for Hume is that the answer to higher energy prices today is a nuclear power station that will be delivered in 2045. If you say it slowly and you say it like that, you're able to understand how bat-poop crazy that actually is: the answer to people's power bills and the pressure that they are feeling today is a nuclear power station that will not deliver one new watt of energy until 2045. When it's put like that, you can see what a crazy proposition it is. But then, when you unpick it and you understand the economics of what they're actually proposing, these things can't be delivered without massive taxpayer subsidies. We are talking about a $1,000 per year tax on every Australian household to deliver their nuclear fantasy. It's not a policy. It's not a plan. It's ideology dressed up as economics by the high priests of drongo economics. They know they can't deliver it. It will not deliver one new watt of energy, which is why they won't release the costings and why they won't be honest with the Australian people.

We are less than 12 months from the next election. Over the next 12 months, in the lead-up to the next election, we will have two competing plans for the future of Australia before the Australian people. One plan is about a future made in Australia. It's about Australians, Australian business and an Australian government which holds its head up high and says: 'We have the confidence to back Australian ingenuity and Australian resourcefulness to ensure that we maximise our natural advantages, whether they be in energy or in other areas of manufacturing and manufacturing capacity. We have the confidence to back Australians and to back Australia. We have a plan for a future made in Australia.' That is one of the competing propositions, that is the proposition of the Albanese Labor government. And that proposition will be put up against the proposition by the Leader of the Opposition, which is that the answer is a nuclear power plant and a $1,000 per household tax on every Australian household, with not one new watt of electricity to be delivered until 2045.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Whitlam visited my electorate last week. He came to Wagga Wagga upon my invitation and conducted an antiscams forum with me. I want to publicly acknowledge and thank him for the work that he is doing in this important public policy area, which is building on what we did as a coalition government. I now want to take him up on the fact that he said Labor inherited 'a diabolical mess'. What they inherited was a nation which was rated, judged, by the John Hopkins institute, no less, as being the second-best nation in the world for its COVID-19 response. By spending money—yes, a lot of it—we kept tens of thousands of Australians alive. We kept tens of thousands of Australians in jobs and kept the doors open for tens of thousands of businesses. We did that despite the backdrop of those opposite being very negative about lots of the policies that we put forward and the state Labor premiers also often being obstinate when we were trying to bring forward good policies in what was a terrible time of a global pandemic.

On budget night this year, the respected economist Chris Richardson had this to say:

My big ask of the Budget was that it didn't poke the inflationary bear.

I don't think it passed that test.

The government said it would be careful not to frontload its new costs. But that's exactly what it did—its new dollars are both big AND fast.

In the coming year they're eight times the size of what they are by 2027-28.

So this budget narrows the Reserve Bank's already narrow path.

Inflation is high. It is too high, and it's going up and up under Labor. Today in the Australian, Mr Richardson is critical of the decisions by federal and state governments, and every mainland state in Australia is under the steed of a Labor government. He talks about decisions in recent budgets to pour billions of additional dollars into the economy under the guise of cost-of-living relief that could ultimately make life harder for struggling households by keeping inflation higher for longer. This is what he said:

Governments are throwing a lot of money at the symptoms of the cost-of-living crisis, but that worsens the cause of it. And the cause is too many dollars chasing two little stuff … Governments have abandoned the field in the inflation fight. We are fighting the inflation fight one-handed.

When we talk about being one-handed, we've got a lot of families and small business owners with their hand very much behind their backs, because they are struggling, and it is tough out there. I know the member for Whitlam acknowledged that and so did the Shadow Treasurer in their contributions to this matter of public importance discussion. It is so tough for people out there. I ask this question of people who might be listening to this broadcast: are you better off now, or were you better off prior to May 2022? People are much the poorer now. In fact, most households are paying a thousand dollars more on their power bills than they were when the coalition was in government.

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

Shame!

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is a shame, member for Moncrieff. Indeed, they are paying more for rent—that's if you can find affordable housing. Those people who have mortgage rates are doing it so very tough at the moment. It is so difficult to get into the housing market, and Labor are making it just more difficult by their policies and by what they do every day. Of course, then we've got those people trying to make ends meet when they go to the grocery store. They are getting fewer groceries and they are paying more for them. They are paying more for petrol every time they go to the petrol browser. We just see no end in sight to this mess.

We need to get Australia back on track. As the Leader of the Opposition has said repeatedly, what we will do when next in government is rein in inflationary spending to take the pressure off inflation. The member for Rankin doesn't get that. He is the Treasurer; he ought to get it. We'll not be spending $13.7 billion on corporate welfare for green hydrogen and critical minerals. Some of the policies in the energy space and some of what Labor is doing to pay $107 million to Western Australian sheep farmers to stop farming is just a nonsense, and it's causing inflationary pressures. It is making things more difficult. We'll wind back Labor's intervention and remove regulatory roadblocks, which are suffocating the economy and stopping businesses from getting ahead. That's what we should be doing. We should be helping our businesses, supporting our businesses, supporting the economy and making sure that we address cost-of-living pressures.

Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I saw that the member for Hume was raising a motion on macroeconomics, I thought to myself, 'Members of the government are really going to have to bone up on our material, because this is going to be a very erudite, very rigorous and compelling presentation we're going to receive.' So I went to my handy fiscal strategy evaluation handbook, which is a handbook that evaluates various fiscal strategies by their short- and medium-term impacts on prices. I was flicking through when I found one approach to fiscal strategy, and it was 'coffee mug, back in black'. I flicked to that section and it said: 'The short-term impact on prices in the economy is an increase in ceramic prices.' It gave some examples, of the tulip mania and other examples of price spikes, but it said that, in 2020, there was an example of where the price of coffee mugs spiked to $35 a mug as a result of this strategy, and the medium-term impact of this strategy was an increase in waste management services, as thousands of mugs were sent to municipal waste service centres. So this strategy had no positive impact on prices.

I flicked to something more traditional, 'fiscal responsibility'. I found a quote from the IMF, which said that 'fiscal tightening makes it possible to increase interest rates by less, in order to contain inflation'. What I found when I looked at that and compared it to the government's strategy is that the government has, in fact, brought down consecutive surpluses, after having inherited a $78 billion deficit, and that the government, not only having done that, has banked high proportions of the fiscal uplift that has occurred during this term, as a result of stronger labour markets, as a result of stronger nominal wages—which is part of our design—and as a result of higher resources prices, and that the budget is $215 billion better off. So it becomes clear from the fiscal strategy evaluation handbook that fiscal responsibility is better than 'coffee mug, back in black'.

Then I looked at another couple of policies. One was 'nuclear pipe dreams, SMR'. I had to go to the glossary, and that said it was 'small, mythical reactors'. That led to a short-term price rise in paper costs, as a result of a flurry of press releases. But what it said was that, in the medium term, there was no macroeconomic impact on energy production for 20 to 25 years after the announcement of this policy. There was no extra production in the energy network. But what it did find was that there would be massive, skewed allocation in the capital markets, which would lead to higher energy prices.

I flicked to an alternative policy, 'clean energy transition'. What that found was that clean energy transition led to higher certainty in energy markets, better and more efficient capital allocation and lower costs for capital. It found that the clean energy transition dealt with environmental externalities. It found that it was skewing the energy market towards lower marginal cost producers, putting downward pressure on energy prices. It also found that clean energy transition was most effective when it was coupled with effective cost-of-living measures.

One example of those were the measures introduced by the government in 2023, voted against by those opposite, which led to electricity prices rising far less than they would have if those opposite had got their way. They increased 6.5 per cent, having had the government intervention, versus 14.5 per cent if the opposition had had their way and there had been no intervention in markets. Again, the fiscal strategy evaluation handbook and looking at the impact on prices showed that 'clean energy transition' was a far superior policy for prices, both in the short-term and the long-term, compared to 'nuclear pipe dreams, small mythical reactors'.

Then I went to a couple of case studies and there was 'inflation trajectory, Morrison government', where inflation was tracking up, where inflation was handed over to the incoming government with a six in front of it, and where there was the highest quarterly increase in a decade. Then I looked at 'inflation trajectory, Albanese government', and what I found there was that there was the subheading 'inflation down'—that inflation had more than halved; that inflation was significantly lower than what they'd inherited, both in terms of core inflation and headline inflation.

So the fiscal strategy evaluation handbook came in quite handy, to rebut some of the very sophisticated macroeconomic arguments put to us. It showed very clearly that fiscal responsibility, clean energy transition and the government's strategies are the best way to deal with the inflation problem.

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we've just heard from the member for Fraser underscores exactly where we're at. These are comedy-style, pithy contributions that seek to make light of the fact that Australians are doing it tough. In fact, I'd argue they've never done it tougher. Another question time has come and gone. It's been another week. And in every single contribution from the Prime Minister we've heard various versions of, 'Australians have never had it better.' Then we transition to the Treasurer, if you like, and he gives us a slightly different version. It's imbued with this sense of, 'Well, aren't those Aussies lucky that I've got my hands on the Treasury levers?'

Newsflash to the Prime Minister and the Treasurer: Australians aren't feeling very lucky right now. In fact, Australians are feeling poorer and colder. We'll talk about 'colder' in a minute, but let's talk about 'poorer'. They're poorer, of course, because, as we've heard about, real wages are plummeting. It's probably not hard or surprising, because food is up 11 per cent, housing 14 per cent, gas 22 per cent, the cost of health care 11 per cent and education 10 per cent.

If you were a prime minister coming to government, cognisant of the fact that there were going to be real challenges around inflation and the lifestyles of Australians, you'd make it your No. 1 priority from day 1. That's what the late Bob Hawke would have done. He was in touch with the Australian zeitgeist. Whether it was having a beer at the front bar or talking to people at the cricket, he got real Australians. Unfortunately, what we have is a prime minister who spends too much time in the Lodge, too much time overseas and too much time in private jets, and that causes him to come into this place and say to the people assembled in this chamber and via broadcast to the rest of Australia, 'Haven't you got it good?'

Well, I'm telling you, Madam Deputy Speaker, they have not got it good. If it wasn't enough that they're paying more at the checkout, at the bowser and in their electricity bills—we have longer lines at places like Foodbank, and all members of parliament are hearing that same feedback—the worst is yet to come. Those opposite, via their three failed budgets, are making the job of the RBA harder. The Member for Fremantle over there laughs. He laughs at the prospect of interest rates going up and up and up. People in the gallery get it. They are getting their interest rate bills. They know what is really hurting Australians.

There are Australians right now who are choosing between heating or eating. That is the truth. In a country as wealthy as ours, pensioners are deciding whether to keep the heater on or have a meal, and this is where they're not only poorer but colder. You know what? It's not just the fiscal policies of those opposite; it's also their approach on other issues. If you want to put downward pressure on prices, do you reckon you'd unleash the union movement? Would you unleash John Setka? Off he runs! The cost of construction is hitting the roof. Wait for it—I know what I'd do! In coming into government, my No. 1 priority being to put downward pressure on the cost of living, I'd spend close to half-a-billion dollars on the Voice referendum! That's what we should have done! Goodness!

Australians have worked out those opposite. They come to the dispatch box now, two years too late, and say, 'Our No.1 priority is cost-of-living pressures.' Minister after minister is asked that question, but I ask Australians: don't listen to what they're saying; look at what they've done. What they've done has put upward pressure on prices, upward pressure on interest rates and has made every Australian poorer and colder.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Fair dinkum, have you ever heard five minutes of more dribble in all your life? You would have thought, as he scurries out of the chamber, that they'd have voted for every single cost-of-living measure put in place that brings down prices of food, energy, medicine and increases the ability to go to doctors. But they didn't; they voted against every single one. Not one single cost-of-living measure that we have put in for the last two years have those opposite supported. In fact, today we find out in the Senate they had the opportunity to put more affordable housing out for people to be able to get access to cheap, affordable housing where they want to live. Guess what? The old mates in the tory party over there decided they want to vote against that because they think the only people that should have houses are their rich mates.

Why would you do that if you want to come and bring in an MPI that talks about cost of living and talks about that? In four sleeps—four days—every single Australian taxpayer is going to get a tax cut to help. Every single Australian taxpayer! We have the member for Petrie over there who cries every day because of the changes we made to make sure that people on low and middle incomes got tax cuts. His got halved, and now the poor fellow is upset that he's not getting 10 grand extra in his pocket. He's upset that he's not getting that, but to do that we made sure that people on normal incomes receive money in their pocket. They're the ones that need it. Not the member for Petrie and not those sitting opposite that come in here and bellow and carry on about the cost of living, when every single time there has been an opportunity to support people doing it tough those opposite have voted against it.

I'm going to say something that will floor people. Listen to the member for Barker. As he said, don't listen to what they say, listen to what they do. So grab his voting record and see that every single time, without fail, he has voted against cost-of-living measures to help people—cheaper medicines, 60-day prescriptions, making sure that pensioners who do it tough have their PBS capped so they're not going to be more out of pocket. When we came into government, inflation was going up and had a six in front of it. It was six per cent and it kept going, it was on that trajectory. But what we did was turn that around. We know it still isn't where we want it to be, but I tell you what, it's a damn sight closer than what it was and what it would have been if they'd still been in power.

We talk about a housing crisis. The housing crisis did not start the day they lost power. There were multiple times during the Turnbull and Morrison mess that they even talked about a housing crisis. Way back in 2017. Yet it continued. The difference is that we actually go out of our way to try and address and fix those problems. They sat on their hands.

Remember old smoking Joe Hockey, 'We will deliver a surplus in our first year and every year.' Now, I'm not sure who's really good at maths—we won't rely on that lot—but if you've had nine years in government and you've delivered no surpluses, in fact you left a trillion dollars of debt, I'm tipping that they would be choking on their black mugs. They spent more money on black mugs and doing those fancy, flash ads with Josh Frydenberg and Morrison running down the corridor. 'We've got the budget back in surplus.' Nine budgets, nine deficits, and they left the biggest debt in history. We get in, and in our first two budgets there are two surpluses. In fact we wiped $150 billion—just like that—off the deficit.

We actually stand up for Australians. They want to stand on them. They think it's only the elites and their rich mates that deserve help and support. But we know it's people on the NDIS, it's pensioners, it's people doing it hard—mums and dad in Australia everywhere. That's why we supported and brought in the HECS debt cuts, which make sure people doing it tough have the support. We're bringing in the energy rebate, $300 off everyone's power bill. You don't hear them crowing about that. By the way, where's the $550 you promised when you were in government. You never delivered it. In fact you made it dearer and harder and you have never, ever stood around and supported people doing it tough.

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

A point of order from the member for Moncrieff?

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

Point of order on 65(a). The member should put his comments through the Deputy Speaker.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Perhaps you should listen.

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

This is not an opportunity for debate. I remind all members, as I did earlier in this debate, to direct their comments through me.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's why I related that to them. (Time expired)

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

Those opposite very much like to talk about the tax cut that they're bringing in in four days time. They've spoken about it for five months. They've spent $40 million of taxpayer money selling those tax cuts. On the same day that we found out about that $40 million of taxpayer money they're spending, we also heard their announcement that they were prepared to spend $14 million to support food banks all across the country. So, as the member for McEwen said, let's not look at what they say; let's look at what they do. What they do is spend $40 million to spin politics to suit their own agenda and $14 million to actually help the Australian people. That tax change is $15 a week for the Australian people. It's $15 extra, and, in this cost-of-living crisis created by this Prime Minister and this Treasurer, every dollar counts.

The other little part that they don't like to talk about—and they get very upset when we talk about this fact. Many Australians will remember this: last year when they put in their tax return they were waiting for that big tax return. They were waiting for about $1,500 to hit their bank account. It got quite viral on social media because people were so upset. That $1,500 wasn't there. It disappeared. It wasn't there, because this government made a choice to let that low- and middle-income tax offset lapse. They chose to let it lapse because they were in government. They will try to say: 'It was already in the legislation. We didn't have a choice.' Well, guess what? You lost that argument when in February this year the Prime Minister broke his word and changed the stage 3 tax cuts. If you can change the stage 3 tax cuts, guess what? You can change the low- and middle-income offset and give the Australian people an extra $1,500. So do not lecture us about the cost-of-living crisis and do not lecture us about the changes that you've made when last year you walked away from the $1,500 that would have made a difference for the Australian people.

Those opposite like to talk about the surpluses that are coming. They talk about the two budget surpluses they delivered. What they don't talk about is how they got delivered. Under FOI from the AFR we can see the RBA did an internal analysis. This is what the RBA actually think, because it's internal. They didn't think it would become public. The government tried to hide it. The FOI brought it out. They said:

… revenue upgrades in 2023-24 were due to external factors, including strong commodity prices …

That means it was nothing to do with the government. They inherited commodity prices through mining that put revenues up:

Over the forward estimates, policy decisions are expected to result in a cumulative deterioration in the underlying cash balance of $24.3 billion …

That means budget policy decisions. That means the decisions of those opposite are driving spending up:

Policy decisions since [the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook] have reduced the underlying cash balance by around $10 billion in each of the next two financial years.

The analysis goes on to say that the budget is:

… slightly expansionary …

That's from the RBA. What that tells you is that, at a time when inflation is already above the band, if you spend more money and you drive an expansionary budget you see results like Wednesday, when inflation jumped from 3.6 per cent to four per cent. They will spin a top line number of a surplus that they had no control over. They got lucky because of the mining sector's increased taxes from bracket creep. But their decisions, from the RBA's own analysis, show that they're running an expansionary budget. That is why inflation is continuing to go up, and that is why there is a risk and why economists are saying we could see an interest rate rise in August. Let's be clear: if we see that interest rate rise in August, it's on this Prime Minister, it's on this Treasurer and it's on this government because it's their decisions that are leading to that interest rate increase. (Time expired.)

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

I think it's always important to remember why we're here, and the reason why we're here is to make sure that we can make a big difference on the lives of Australians and their households. Sometimes, it's a bit exhausting in this chamber, where you have this side and that side—it's a bit of a sling match—but the truth is what we want to do is make sure that we help household budgets. I know that our Treasurer is working hard every day to make sure that we are making a real, tangible difference, and we see him working close in hand with our finance minister.

Tackling inflation is not an easy job. I'm not going to pretend that it's as simple as one plus two. It's really challenging, and the thing that I know that we have been doing is being really intentional with the decisions that we make. I think it's also interesting to see that the Liberals have been stirred up by the monthly CPI indicators that were released yesterday. As the Treasurer has said many times, the monthly CPI number is volatile and it can jump around because not every item in the basket is updated each month. So I tell those opposite: hold your breath. Don't get ahead of yourselves, because the ABS figures also confirm that inflation would be even higher if it weren't for Labor's cost-of-living policies. We know that inflation at this time is almost half of what it was at the time of the last election—half. We also know that inflation is lower than it was when Labor came into office.

The government is fully aware that we need to moderate further and faster, and this government is doing its bit to see this happen. It's taking responsible and considered actions to tackle inflation by managing the economy at the same time as delivering important cost-of-living relief for millions of Australians. Labor's cost-of-living measures are designed to assist the economy and manage these inflation pressures. We understand that people are worried about paying their mortgages and concerned about interest rates. We are listening and we are acting. Over the past few months, I've spoken with many people in my community to understand their struggles. This year, I've had 15 mobile offices in my community, hearing from people in my community through surveys, through phone calls and also through knocking on the doors and speaking to businesses because that's what Labor does. We are proactive.

This is why we've decided to deliver cheaper medicine. This is why we're delivering on help to rent and we're helping with student debt. Every household in Australia will receive $300 in electricity relief. Luckily, in Western Australia we're teaming up with the Cook Labor state government and households will get $700 in WA. We have a strategy that is responsible and fair. This is what we're doing.

We need to make sure that we do this in ways that protect the economy, not destroy it, which is what the Liberals threatened to do with the release of their mad policy on nuclear energy. It is a policy that would put enormous pressures on cost, and they're not even suggesting that the private sector do this. The private sector won't do it, because it's a stupid idea and the economics do not stack up. It will take longer, it will cost more, it will deliver less, and they want to do it on the taxpayers' purse. It is outrageous. The nuclear energy policy will deliver less because it won't be ready for decades. It will cost more because it is the most expensive form of energy. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, and what do they come up with? 'Let's get the most expensive thing off the shelf!' Like, please, come on.

The truth is, in WA, in Australia, people know what a fake looks like. We saw that at the last election. People said to our former prime minister Scott Morrison, 'That's a fake.' And you know what? The people of Australia know that nuclear is not a real policy; it is a fake policy. I don't know why they're putting all their eggs in this one nuclear basket. If I had my ovary eggs in that nuclear basket, I wouldn't want that happening! So they were wrong, and they continue to make wrong decisions. I am proud of this Labor government.

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

The member for Swan threw me off a bit there! For those up in the public gallery who have come to visit and watch, what we are doing now is called 'matters of public importance'—thank you for the wave! Question time is where the government comes in and tells us how good they are, and they do that a lot. Matters of public importance are where we tell them, 'Not so fast!' And we do it in a way that, hopefully, addresses the issues that are important to you and important to all Australians. Right now there is no more important an issue than the rising prices of food, electricity, fuel and housing.

I want to tell you a story that was told to me that is heartbreaking. A young mum came to me and told me about how she was putting items of fresh food back on the shelf—they included eggs and fresh meat—because she couldn't afford it. She did it in front of her children and she said she felt ashamed. She then said a few days later she had to cancel a school camp—and those in the gallery might be here for a camp like that—because she couldn't afford it. And then she said, 'I feel like I'm letting my family down.' And so while we're talking in here of a cost-of-living crisis, that's where the rubber hits the road for people throughout this nation. They are feeling like they are letting their families down. Except they didn't create the circumstances that are leading to that. They're doing their very best with the circumstances that are before them, but it is not their doing.

Now, in a matter of public importance, and one as important as this where we're hearing stories like that, you would think the government would turn their full attention to it. You would think so. Instead, on many, many issues we've seen jokes told, memes shared. Australians expect more—and full credit to many members of the government who are here today; not all of you engage in that sort of rhetoric, and many of you didn't on the recent nuclear debate and you didn't share Simpsons memes.

It is important, when we are looking at the critical task of reducing inflation, that we don't just look at the symptoms, we look at the cause. We know what it is like to use metaphor when people look at the symptoms and not the cause. Imagine a scenario where someone borrowed your car. They ran it into the ground; they didn't look after it properly and there's a noise in it. We know a noise in an engine means something's wrong. What's their cure? They turn the radio up so you don't hear it. Or imagine a scenario where you're not feeling well, the room is too hot and one of your housemates is turning the heating up all the time. They alone can turn it down, but instead they give you a glass of water. Or to go back to the car metaphor: someone has punctured a tyre and their solution isn't to fix the puncture, but to keep putting air in it. That's what it means to just look at the symptoms and not the cause. When this government talks about addressing inflation, we hear from the talking points and out in the media, again and again, that they are giving you money to say, 'It's alright; you've never had it so good,' as many speakers said before. 'Here; I'm helping.' But for every dollar the government gives you, we are seeing multiples in price increases.

I want to take you to them. The shadow Treasurer noted that food was up 11.4 per cent. When you look at the compound increase—and compound returns can go for you or go against you—that means on that rate, if it continues, food doubles every six years—it doubles. With power, electricity is up 21.5 per cent. Again, on a compound increase, if that stays that means it doubles every 3½ years. Gas is up 22.2 per cent; that doubles every three years. We are talking about significant numbers for a country where the average wage is about $95,000, and for half of all Australians it's the median wage—half or less—of $65,000. These are serious numbers, and we should always turn our minds to the people who are standing at shopping centres who are saying, 'I'm letting my family down.' (Time expired)

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

The time for the debate has concluded.