Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that Australians are struggling through a cost of living crisis and are being failed by the Government;

(2) notes that Australians have lost tens of thousands of dollars over the past two years through no fault of their own, with:

(a) workers paying 20 per cent more in personal income tax;

(b) real wages collapsing by nearly nine per cent;

(c) living standards falling by eight per cent;

(d) household savings reducing by almost ten per cent;

(e) prices on goods rising by around ten per cent;

(f) inflation remaining higher than any other developed nation; and

(g) homeowners with a typical mortgage of $750,000 being some $35,000 a year worse off; and

(3) calls on the Government to address the economic pressures being placed on Australian families.

Australians are struggling through a cost-of-living crisis. Inflation has been far too high for far too long, and the prices on everything from energy to insurance to household goods have skyrocketed. Our standard of living, as a consequence, has declined for ordinary Australians. In the last two years, we've seen hardworking families being turned against by this government. They have turned to this government also to look to receive some relief or at least in some sense to ease the pain of the burden that they are facing. Yet we have seen three failed budgets and clear evidence that Labor has no plan to reverse the current economic pressures and restore Australia's standard of living.

Instead of addressing the issues that are the root cause of inflation, Labor have made budgetary decisions which will only cause inflation to worsen. We now lag behind other developed nations in reducing the inflation rate, and it is now almost entirely homegrown, as the Reserve Bank has noted. While other countries have begun to cut rates, Australia is the only G10 nation where core inflation has gone up compared with December last year. What we have seen from this government is the continued throwing of fuel on the fire by adding $315 billion in extra spending in the recent budget—more than $30,000 for every single household. These cost-of-living pressures do not seem to be letting up any time soon either. This persistent homegrown inflation is being coupled with the economy grinding to a halt, and it is clear that Australians are being failed by the Albanese Labor government. The situation is just continuing to get worse.

Let's look at some of the numbers. Prices have gone up by 10 per cent, and for working households prices are up by over 18 per cent; personal income tax collections have risen by some 20 per cent; real wages for employees have collapsed by nine per cent; living standards have collapsed by eight per cent; household savings are down by 10 per cent; and a family on a typical mortgage of $750,000 is now around $35,000 a year worse off. As I've said before in this place, you don't listen to what the government and the Labor members in this chamber say; you look at what they do, because nine times out of 10 they are two completely and utterly different things.

Households are paying the price for this, and so are small to medium businesses. We are seeing the impact of this cost-of-living crisis across my electorate of Forde. Households are going to great lengths to keep their heads above water. They are digging deep into their savings and sometimes taking on an extra job or two in order to cover the bills—so much so that a record number of Australians now have multiple jobs. I know from talking to the food banks and other community organisations that help people in need that they have never seen this many people coming through the door. Many are people who they have never, ever seen before, and they are coming from areas of my community which generally you would regard as well to do.

That is the bad news. What is the good news? That there is an alternative: what a coalition government would provide and what this country needs. We need to see governments manage their budgets in a responsible way, and that is exactly what a coalition government has demonstrated time and time again. We need to get back to a basic economic agenda that will get us back on track. We will make sure that government spending doesn't outpace economic growth, ease the administrative burden on business, and get out of their way by reducing red and green tape and, more importantly, by providing affordable, reliable energy so that we can put downward pressure on energy prices, because the cost of energy is in every single thing that we do. Australian households are paying a high price for Labor's bad economic policies, wrong priorities and poor decisions. The government must immediately address the economic issues being placed on Australian families.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all know that Australians are doing it tough, and they're doing it tough right now. I hear this, as I'm sure all of you do, when I go doorknocking, at street corner meetings and when I meet with constituents and move around the community. That is why this Albanese Labor government has put measures in place. That is why this Albanese Labor government's No. 1 priority is easing the cost-of-living pressures. There is no doubt that that is the focus of this government. You can see that through the actions that this Labor government has taken. That is why we have given every Australian taxpayer a tax cut and why we are giving every household $300 off their energy bills.

We know there is more to do; there is no doubt. Inflation is still higher than we would like, but it's less than half its peak and significantly lower than what we inherited from the opposition. We've delivered the first back-to-back surplus in almost two decades, which the Reserve Bank governor has said is helping in the fight against inflation. We're also on track for a larger-than-forecast surplus, which could be the largest back-to-back surplus on record. All of this helps the economy. It stabilises it and tries to push inflation lower.

If you look at the budget we delivered in May, it was specifically designed to help take pressure off Australians and make a real difference to people right across the country. That is why the Albanese Labor government is providing $3.5 billion in energy bill relief to all Australian households and to one million eligible small businesses. More than 10 million households will receive a total rebate of $300, and eligible small businesses will receive a rebate of $325 on their electricity bills throughout the year.

This government's current energy bill relief plan has moderated electricity price increases. In the year to June quarter 2024, electricity prices rose six per cent. Electricity prices would have risen 14.6 per cent without our energy rebates. That is a really big difference. This budget recognises that households and small businesses are doing it extremely tough and remain under pressure. When you look at the budget, it extends and expands that relief. Wholesale electricity prices in the national electricity market have fallen eight per cent in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same time last year, as more cheap renewable generation is rolled out to deliver the government's 82 per cent renewable energy target.

We know that, if the previous government actually had an energy policy over the last 10 years, there would have been more investment in renewables, more people taking active business within renewable energy and more sources to gain renewable energy, and, therefore, prices would have been much lower. It's as if the world only began in May 2022 for the opposition. They forget those 10 years and the things they put in place that brought us to the position we're in. We all know how well the opposition went with energy plans while they were in government.

The government will also cut $3 billion in student debt, which is a real difference for students. The budget makes the HECS-HELP system fairer for three million Australians. This means that HECS debts will never grow faster than wages. This change will support 29,157 people with a HECS debt in my electorate of Adelaide.

The Albanese Labor government has invested almost $4 billion to deliver cheaper medicines—this is all money in people's pockets—to ease pressure on household budgets governance by freezing the PBS co-payment and adding more medicines to the PBS. Residents in my electorate of Adelaide have already saved $3,000,742 thanks to this government's commitment to delivering cheaper medicines. Pensioners and concession cardholders in Adelaide won't pay more than $7.70 for their PBS medications for the next five years.

We are also investing $1.9 million to help nearly one million Australian households with the cost of rent by increasing the maximum rates of Commonwealth rent assistance by 10 per cent. This will benefit 7,580 people in my electorate. (Time expired)

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

I would like to start by thanking the member for Forde for bringing this important motion to the chamber for us to have the chance to debate it this morning. Unfortunately, for two years now, we have had this ongoing debate in this chamber. I have spoken on many similar motions about the cost of living, hoping that our government will take it seriously and do something tangible and concrete to address the terrible pressures that Australian families and small businesses are under. Whilst the previous speaker from the government has conceded that people are doing it tough out there and that, as he goes about his electorate, the No. 1 thing he hears back from his constituents is that they are doing it tough and that cost-of-living pressures are very serious, that message is clearly not being heard by the senior leaders in his own government.

We have a situation where, for the average family, whether it is when meeting their mortgage payments or their rent, when they pay the grocery bills or when they open a letter from a utilities company, unfortunately the common feeling is: 'How am I going to meet these costs? How am I going to pay this bill? What sacrifices do we have to make in our family budget to make it stack up? The long weekend holiday at the caravan park is off now because it just doesn't fit within the family budget like it used to, because all of these other costs are going up so dramatically.'

We have seen in the last week a very concerning development where there's tension and criticism between our independent Reserve Bank and the Treasurer and the government, because that independent RBA are starting to be a little more clear with the government about the sorts of challenges that they are dealing with alone when it comes to pressures in our economy and inflation in our economy and the fact that this government is leaving the Reserve Bank to do all the heavy lifting. That is a nightmare for the average Australian because what can the Reserve Bank do? Regrettably, they have one lever and it is the cost of money in our economy. It's increasing the cash rate and therefore interest rates commensurately throughout the economy. No-one in this chamber, I expect, is aware of any family that's saying they can possibly afford to bear any further increases in interest rates. But the minutes of the RBA meeting, just last week, indicate that at that meeting they very seriously considered whether they should increase the cash rate further and have sent a very clear message that, regrettably, this government is not heeding that they might have to increase interest rates even more. That is the last thing that Australian families can possibly bear right now. They need interest rates to come down. The RBA can't do that if there is such an imbalance between monetary policy and fiscal policy in our country right now. What the RBA need is for the government to listen to them. They are independent. They are not political. They are not into game playing or messaging through the media. They are clearly, though, trying to send a message to this government that this government's policies are not supporting what the RBA is trying to do, which is fight inflation.

We have got inflation running so hot. When you compare other similar economies around the world to ours, we are running at the highest. There are a lot of pressures, unfortunately, that only indicate that pressure is upwards on inflation. This is a government that went to the last election saying it was going to ease the cost of living. Nothing but the opposite has occurred. They said that they were going to reduce electricity prices by $275. I challenge anyone to report back from a constituent that's told them that, since Labor came to power, their bill has fallen by $275. Even with a blatant blunt-force $300 energy reduction rebate on everyone's bill, no-one is anywhere near that $275 reduction. Mortgages are up dramatically. Rents are up dramatically. Average household costs, particularly for groceries, are up dramatically. Power bills and other utilities are up, up, up under this government. This is the complete opposite of what they said they would do for the Australian people at the last election.

So I thank the member for Forde for bringing this motion to the chamber, but, more importantly, I hope that this government will listen to it and finally take some concrete action to address the dramatic cost-of-living crisis that has befallen the average Australian family.

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

I do recognise that the cost of living is the No. 1 issue in my community and across Australia. Household budgets are doing it really tough. The thing is that we had a moment in our history where we could have had a government that was working towards the way that we build our nation to deal with times of crises, and, frankly, we did not see that under the coalition government. The challenge that we're facing at the moment is a balancing act of making sure that we provide support to the community while also having spending restraint. Labor acknowledges these pressures. This has been our No. 1 issue. It is our No. 1 priority. This is the reason why every single taxpayer across Australia is getting a tax cut. It's not just some; it's everyone. That was effective from 1 July.

If I cast my mind back to when we announced this policy at the beginning of this year and think of the coalition's response, it was initially to oppose it. Then it was, 'Oh, wait, no—let's backtrack.' Then it was, 'Let's just introduce it and change it so only the richest get tax cuts.' Then they say that they would change it, and then they waved it through. So what we initially saw was a coalition that was prepared to throw low- and middle-income earners under the bus.

But what we did was have a look at our policy. Treasury said that there was a way to look at our tax cuts and implement them in a way that would not be inflationary but would actually provide targeted support to those who needed it most. The truth is that that's what responsible governments do. They have a look at policies, they listen to the frank and fearless Public Service and they work out what is right for our communities. So we did have a change in our policy, but this is a policy that will help communities but also not put additional inflationary pressure on our nation.

We are also looking at targeted energy relief, and so every household across Australia will be getting $300 off their electricity bill. In Western Australia, because we have the state and federal Labor governments working together, Western Australian households will be getting $700 off their electricity bills.

What we also saw under the previous government was a government that was prepared to basically keep wages down. If you think about it, they were basically putting the screws on incomes for workers and our lowest-paid workers. We, the Albanese Labor government, have helped 2.6 million low-paid workers get a pay rise, and they're up to their third consecutive pay rise. We did this because we know that households are doing it tough and it was our lowest-paid workers that did the heavy lifting during the pandemic.

We're also strengthening Medicare. We're doing this because we understand that all Australians, irrespective of what their income is, should have access to a good-quality healthcare system. We also looked at our medication expenses. So we saw a reduction in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme co-payment from $42 to $30. But we also introduced 60-day dispensing, where people are effectively getting double the medicine without needing to go and visit a GP and without needing to go to a pharmacist. This is something that's tangibly helping families.

The other thing we introduced was around HECS relief. We had seen, from a university debt perspective, that this was linked to CPI, but wages weren't increasing as quickly as CPI. So now we have a policy that looks at the consumer price index and also the wage price index, and whichever of the two is the lowest is what HECS will be indexed at. With this policy we have effectively wiped $3 billion of debt. We're also looking at cheaper groceries by strengthening the food and grocery codes. Each of these policies, whether tax cuts, cheaper medicines or HECS debt relief, is tangibly helping households.

Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It may well be that Australians find themselves, in the coming months or a little longer, facing another election. And there is no doubt, as this motion and the speakers from both sides have pointed out, that the cost of living will be the issue. I would put to the Australian people that there is a significant question they need to be asking themselves at this coming election: are you better off today than you were when Labor came to government? Across the board, no matter where we look, the resounding answer is no. New homes are 19.7 per cent more expensive than they were when Labor came to government; bread, 19.5 per cent; and milk, 18.8 per cent. Two areas that we talk a lot about in this place are gas and electricity. The price of gas has gone up by 21.3 per cent—and electricity by 20.2 per cent. We have seen a 30 per cent increase in insurance premiums.

All these costs are bearing down on Australian households. And it's across the board. We're feeling it right across the economy. I would say to the Australian people—as they go into those booths, whenever that day comes, and they ask themselves that question: am I better off?—that they need to know that where we are today is no accident. We are here, worse off, because of a series of deliberate decisions made by this Labor government. We can pin it back, somewhat humorously, but it is painful humour, to the 6,000-word essay the Treasurer wrote about 'remaking capitalism', about how he was going to throw away the knowledge, the ideas, the experience of the past; the Treasurer alone knew better. He was going to show us how to do things. Well, here we are. What a failure.

We could speak to Labor's immigration policy, a policy deliberately designed to keep us out of recession. We are in a per capita recession. Our immigration policy is designed purely to keep us out of that. And it's an absolute shame, because of course the impact is on young people trying to get a house. We could talk about Labor's price caps policy in the gas industry, which has done what every price cap policy has done for more than 2,000 years, and that is to reduce supply and drive up prices. That's a deliberate decision. We could talk about their IR legislation, which is driving down productivity. The Minerals Council of Australia's explicit accounts of how that will happen, in evidence presented to the Economics Committee, should be reading for everyone; it is reading for the ages.

We've got $315 billion of additional spending that the RBA now acknowledges is driving up inflation. And we have a government that boasts of two surpluses yet in its own budget papers confirmed that the cost of that last surplus is 10 years of deficits. This is a deliberate design—short-termism making things worse in the long term. We are not here by accident. We're not worse off by accident. This is where Labor wanted to take us.

Worst of all was the great promise Labor made to get real wages moving again. Wages did move again—they went backwards by nine per cent under Labor, who turned its back on the labourers who used to build the Labor Party, walked away from those at the lower income levels. I spent last Friday night at Tony's Community Kitchen watching people come in to receive donated food. What was shocking was the number of working people, the number of those whose dollar would have gone far enough to be able to look after their own not that long ago. To the Australian people—as you look across the economy and as you look across the pain you're feeling—ask yourselves, 'Are we better off than we were before Labor came to government?' What you need to know is that there is another way. They're easy decisions. There's $315 billion of cash that's going out the door. These are decisions the government has made with a short-term approach. There is a moral argument for making tough decisions when it comes to the economy, because inflation bears down unevenly on our economy. It's renting pensioners and young Australians who are getting hurt the most by Labor's absence of moral courage when it comes to dealing with these issues. They are hurting Australians by design. It's an absolute disgrace, and shame on this government.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know that people are doing it tough, and that's why the Albanese government is taking unprecedented steps to help ease the cost of living. I'm pleased to see individuals, families, students and seniors across my electorate of Gilmore already benefiting from a range of measures, announced in this year's budget, that are aimed at easing financial stress in the home while placing downward pressure on inflation. From 1 July 64,000 taxpayers in Gilmore will receive an average tax cut of $1,405. That's money going straight back into the pockets of hardworking locals in my electorate to help with the cost of living. Many households in Gilmore have already started receiving their $300 energy rebate, and I've been contacted by happy constituents who have received notification from their energy provider that their electricity bills will also be going down, which is even better news.

With an older population, accessible and affordable health services play a critical role. Since the Batemans Bay urgent care clinic opened in December 2023, we've seen more than 6,000 patients walk through the doors—all bulk-billed. Soon we're opening a Medicare mental health clinic at nearby Moruya. We've recently developed a fantastic and much needed regional endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic at Melton. All of these important health services are free and are helping to reduce cost-of-living pressures. Thanks to the Albanese government, Gilmore residents have saved more than $2 million on cheaper medicines, and people who access the PBS are saving even more, thanks to our freeze on the maximum costs of PBS medicines. Pensioners and concession cardholders will have more money in their wallets because, for the next five years, they won't pay more than $7.70 for a PBS script. Gilmore pensioners and seniors are saving in many other ways as well, thanks to cost-of-living measures announced in the recent budget: an increase in Rent Assistance, a 12-month freeze on deeming rates, a wage increase for aged-care workers and more HomeCare packages.

We know families are doing it tough. That's why we're helping out with tax cuts, wage increases for our lowest paid workers and a further 10 per cent increase in rent assistance. That's an average increase of $19 per fortnight for 8,235 people in Gilmore. And that's not all. Our government's CHOICE supermarket price monitoring is helping make supermarkets more competitive and allowing consumers to make price comparisons so they save money at the check-out. These are real, practical savings. These are effective cost-of-living measures.

Students are also receiving a leg up with $3 billion wiped from HECS and apprentice loans across the country, including for 13,200 locals in Gilmore. Again, this means more money going into the pockets of our young people to help with their cost of living. Let's not forget how students are now saving with fee-free TAFE in industry skill shortage areas, and the new Commonwealth prac payments for nurses, teachers and social workers, meaning they can now earn money while they learn.

Many families in Gilmore run small businesses, meaning they're feeling the pressure at home and at work. This government has not forgotten them. By helping small businesses in these tough economic times, we are helping ordinary, hardworking Australians. Eligible small businesses are receiving their $325 electricity rebate, and just last month a number of small to medium operators in my electorate of Gilmore received energy efficiency grants of up to $25,000 to help reduce their operating costs. Last week, I visited the champion microbrewery Dangerous Ales, in Milton, where our grant will help the operators set up a power-saving digital glycol monitoring system. The owners are a young family, and we are helping to ease the cost the cost-of-living for them in both their home and their business.

People of all ages and from all walks of life in my electorate are already reaping the benefits of this government's responsible cost-of-living measures. These are real savings; this is money in the pockets of locals when they need it most.

Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I rise today, the cost of living is the pressing issue for most Australians. Between mortgage rate increases and the cost of groceries, fuel and energy bills—the list goes on—everyone is doing it tough. As a policy area, this issue is complex. The causes are many and varied, and there are many possible solutions. But for one of the most significant pain points—electricity prices—there is an obvious solution. It's not an easy one, but it's a very clear one. Today, I will focus on electricity prices.

Households and businesses across Australia are currently paying way too much for energy because the majority of it is still generated from fossil fuels. The CSIRO and AEMO have categorically shown in their latest GenCost report that renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy, even after transmission and storage capacity have been factored in. Renewables are also expected to remain the lowest cost power source for decades to come. Yet Australia still gets 50 per cent of our energy from old, unreliable coal-fired power plants, which are increasingly breaking down. The market operator has made it clear that coal powered station breakdowns and rising coal prices are the main cause of skyrocketing electricity prices. The fact that the solution to the high energy bills and the solution to the climate crisis are one and the same present: a remarkable opportunity for Australia.

Australians want and demand cheap and reliable energy now—not in 20 or 30 or 40 years time. I recently attended a Smart Energy Council conference, where I heard really exciting updates about how rapidly long-duration energy storage is progressing, including both batteries and other technologies such as compressed air energy storage. Also, very significantly, it was very exciting to hear how rapidly the prices for batteries are coming down, getting cheaper and cheaper almost by the day. Australians know there is no time to waste on transitioning to clean, green energy. They voted for it at the last election, voting for non-party, climate focused candidates in record numbers. They expect action.

People also understand there is an incredible economic opportunity on our doorstep—one Australia is uniquely placed to exploit. That economic opportunity is clear and substantial. We have already seen 25 per cent of additional renewable energy capacity added to our system during this term in parliament, taking the amount of electricity being generated by renewables to almost 40 per cent. It is highly significant that the wholesale energy price has come down as a result of this transition to renewable energy. Over the course of the last year, the rapid growth in renewable energy generation slashed the wholesale cost of power in the national energy grid. It also dramatically reduced our reliance on coal fired power.

The transition to clean, cheap, renewable energy is already underway. We have abundant natural resources in Australia. We have one of the sunniest and windiest continents on earth. We have more than enough renewable resources which we can harness to meet our energy needs. We have the space, and we know it is the cheapest form of energy.

Personally, I'm very keen to see further development of household solar and a much greater deployment of both household and community batteries so that families and businesses can benefit directly from cheaper energy prices. When each Australian business and household generates enough solar power to power themselves during the day and have battery capability to keep the lights on at night, energy bills will get lower and lower and, hopefully one day, even cease to exist, as will fuel bills, as everyone transitions slowly to electric vehicles.

We can't ignore the giant distraction— (Time expired)

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

The opposition, led by the member for Forde, is attempting to rewrite history here. The economic challenges we face today didn't just emerge two years ago. They began a decade ago, when the former Liberal government took office. This marked the onset of a period characterised by economic stagnation, with sluggish wage growth, declining productivity and the accumulation of over $1 trillion of Liberal debt. Under their watch, Australia has faced a decade of missed opportunities, where promises of economic prosperity fell short, leaving ordinary families to bear the brunt of poor policy decisions. These failures set the stage for the economic challenges we are facing today. When the Albanese government was elected, inflation was already rising rapidly as the former Liberal government was caught asleep at the economic wheel.

However, through our careful budget measures and a clear focus on easing inflationary pressures, we have seen a significant improvement. Inflation has dropped by more than half from its peak and is now well below the levels we inherited from the previous Liberal government. This isn't just a statistic. It is a real weight off the backs of Australian families. Our budget strategy has played a crucial role in achieving this progress, delivering the first back-to-back budget surpluses in nearly two decades. These surpluses reflect the careful financial management of the Albanese Labor government and are actively contributing to easing inflationary pressures.

Our approach is about more than just controlling inflation. It's about doing so in a way that does not harm the very people that we seek to serve. Our economic plan has been carefully crafted to fight inflation without damaging the Australian economy. We've prioritised cost-of-living relief, understanding that Australians are under immense pressure. From energy rebates to rent assistance, from affordable child care to tax cuts for every single Australian taxpayer, each of these measures has been crafted to deliver real and sustainable relief for Australian families and for our economy.

In fact, cost-of-living relief measures alone have reduced inflation by half a percentage point, easing the burden on households all across our country. Take, for example, the impact of our energy rebates. Without these rebates, electricity prices would have risen by 14.6 per cent over the past year. Instead, they increased by six per cent, thanks to our targeted support. In child care, an area where costs have historically been a heavy burden on families, we've seen prices fall by 5.7 per cent, where they would otherwise have increased by nearly 15 per cent.

The Albanese Labor government is not just talking about economic relief. We are actually delivering it, and our efforts extend beyond the immediate relief. We're laying the groundwork for a stronger, more resilient economy that will benefit all Australians for the years to come.

A tax reform agenda is a prime example of this long-term vision. We've introduced tax cuts that provide meaningful relief to Middle Australia, ensuring that the average worker will pay less tax each year under our plan, compared to the old Morrison government plan. This is not just about putting more money back into the pockets of hardworking Australians—although it is. It's also about building a fairer tax system where everyone pays their fair share and where the benefits are felt by those who need them most. Over 2.9 million Australians who were excluded under the Morrison government's plan are now getting a tax cut. In my electorate of Hawke, over 73,000 taxpayers are getting a tax cut under Labor's plan, with a household of two full-time workers saving an average of $2,856 each year. That means more cash in their bank accounts every fortnight. That's not even mentioning the $3 billion in student debt relief our government has delivered, benefiting over 17,000 people in Hawke, or the $4 billion in cheaper medicines, saving Hawke residents nearly $1.8 million.

The Albanese Labor government is committed to carefully and responsibly managing the economic challenges facing our country. We're tackling inflation, delivering cost-of-living relief and setting up an economy that is fairer and more prosperous for all Australians.

Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the lead up to the last election, Prime Minister Albanese made a simple deal with every Australian. He said that, if he were elected Prime Minister, all he asked for was that his government be judged on three simple criteria. This is what the Prime Minister said:

I measure the strength of our economy by how it works for people. So for me there's a simple test … Do you feel better off … Are you finding it easier to pay your bills? Are you more certain of your future and, importantly, that of your children?

He said all this. As I travel around the great electorate of Braddon, in the north-west, west coast and King Island regions of the great state of Tasmania, it's blatantly clear that Prime Minister Albanese and his government have failed on each and every single one of these criteria. Families and businesses are struggling as they've never struggled before.

Under this Labor government, the self-inflicted cost-of-living crisis continues. There are many horror stories, whether it's groceries, petrol, diesel, electricity, housing, mortgages or the cost of doing business—the list goes on. I'm hearing every single day that life is much, much tougher now than it was even during the height of the global financial crisis. Households and businesses have copped 12 interest rate increases since Labor came to government. On a mortgage of around half a million dollars, that means $14,000 more per year on your repayments. Around half of all Tasmanian mortgagees and renters are now in mortgage or rental stress, and that is a fact. One in five are spending more than half of their earnings on their mortgage or their rent.

But this mismanagement goes further because, under this government, there's less money in their pockets to pay the mortgage itself. We're paying 20 per cent more in personal income tax. Our real wages have collapsed by nearly nine per cent. Living standards have collapsed by nearly eight per cent. Household savings have collapsed by almost 10 per cent, and still the Albanese government spruiks its May budget as the cost-of-living relief budget. It was an opportunity to demonstrate that they finally understood the extent of the harm that their policies were causing to families and businesses right around the country. Regrettably, it's fallen well short.

In another demonstration that Labor has no understanding of our region, only around 55 per cent of the residents of Braddon receive a taxable income. Forty-five per cent of them pay no tax at all. They rely on government benefits or they are retirees who have done the right thing all of their lives—worked hard, saved hard and funded their own retirement. These very Australians are amongst our most vulnerable. They are the ones that are being forced to visit food banks because they can no longer afford to buy food. And what's Labor's response in their cost-of-living relief budget? Give them absolutely zip, nada, nil—nothing.

In response to this claim, Labor spruik their $300 energy rebate—a rebate paid quarterly in instalments of $75 over the next year, I might add. But, in the lead-up to the 2022 election, Labor promised to cut power bills for households by $275. Instead, our energy bills have gone up by an average of 18 per cent. That $300 rebate doesn't even put a dent in Labor's broken promise to reduce our power bills.

Life under the Albanese government is really challenging. I get that; everyone gets that. In fact, I can't recall a time in my life when so many families or business owners have told me that they've never been more worried about their future. Families can't keep their heads above water any longer, and businesses are telling me that they can no longer afford to operate.

As we lead into this next election, I simply ask all Australians out there, and I want to look down the camera and ask them: Do you feel better off? Are you finding it easier to pay your bills? And are you more certain of your future now and, importantly, that of your children? Three more years under this Labor government is unthinkable.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Once again, this chamber had been hit with yet another example of an opposition looking to weaponise a cost-of-living crisis while falling short of offering any actual assistance towards helping those it represents. And it's a shame that the party of Menzies, supposed representatives of the forgotten people, only chooses to remember its constituents when they are politically useful, spending its time in this place jamming the Australian people into a numbers game rather than putting forward an actual plan to assist them.

I don't wish to dismiss the importance of this matter. The member for Forde has done well in bringing attention to the financial pressures Australians are under. But this difference between his party and my own is that those opposite will just sit and throw stones at every glasshouse in sight, whereas members on this side, having inherited these conditions, acknowledge the strain our country is under and offer real solutions with real policy to lift that pressure away from the back of everyday Australians.

The government has and will continue to demonstrate this fact, because it is a Labor government. When our communities asked for more relief, we delivered it through our tax cuts in July. That is 91 per cent of my electorate, 67,000 people, saving an average of $1,217 per year, which is around $800 more than they would have saved under the plan of those opposite. That is real action, putting more money directly into the hands of Australians, with 11½ million people all receiving a bigger tax cut across the country. Despite this, those opposite remained kicking and screaming, dragged towards supporting these changes by their constituents because their conscience couldn't manage it.

Make no mistake, if they had been at the wheel, these changes would not have happened. Those 67,000 people in my community would be receiving no extra help under a coalition government. Tax cuts are not the only means of cost-of-living relief those opposite would prefer shot down. To provide another example, this government is investing $30 billion into new housing initiatives throughout the next decade. This is funding to get new homes built sooner, to provide the infrastructure needed to support new developments and to build more social and affordable rentals. It is policy to increase the supply of housing in this country, to make the roof over the heads of everyday Australians more affordable. These are initiatives to address the housing crisis all of our communities currently face. And how does the opposition react to such proposals? They proceeded to threaten billions of dollars to boost the Australian housing supply last year under the Housing Australia Future Fund, with no alternative vision for this country.

We can only assume those opposite would rather see Australia's housing supply in an even worse state. They chose not to offer any solutions themselves nor let this government get on with the job. Unfortunately, this behaviour has become a fundamental characteristic of the opposition. But that hasn't stopped the Albanese Labor government from performing the task at hand, delivering $300 of electricity bill relief to all Australians, making child care cheaper, delivering a 15 per cent pay rise for early learning employees without increasing costs for parents, strengthening Medicare to deliver increased bulk-billing practices across the country and making medicines cheaper. In fact, in Spencer alone, my community has already saved more than $2 million since the commitment was delivered.

We're also keeping wages moving forward, with 2.6 million low-paid workers receiving a third consecutive pay rise from July this year—all this with peak inflation halved since coming to government. These solutions put money directly into the pockets of Australians, and they are not the end of the story. My colleagues and I, like all Australians, are acutely aware of the challenge of a rise in the cost of living.

My electorate of Spence is one of the most socially and economically disadvantaged divisions in the nation. It feels this pressure the most, which is why I'm proud to be part of a government delivering real cost-of-living relief through real policy direct to everyday Australians. Could the same be said of those opposite, having held back this relief at every opportunity just to stay political irrelevant? The member for Forde calls for government to address cost-of-living pressures but fails to vote for policy that would do so, because he and his colleagues would rather weaponise the wellbeing of those doing it tough in our communities for the political good of the coalition. Stop spending time turning facts into your political fiction and start offering something for the good of this country.

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

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.