Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's not a gas shortage in Australia; there's a shortage of integrity. There's a shortage of politicians who actually represent their constituents, not the interests of the coal and gas corporations paying them off. One nurse should not pay more tax than 33 big gas corporations. One teacher shouldn't pay more tax than 21 big coal corporations.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 09:58 to 10:09

In the 10 years between 2014 and 2024, all the teachers in the country together paid twice as much tax as the entire oil and gas sector. The government gets more money from HECS and related student loans than from the gas tax, the PRRT, which is designed to raise revenue from the oil and gas corporations.

The Labor government fails to even mention the profiteering of the big corporations and the role that that plays in driving up the cost of living. Rather than cracking down on the big supermarkets, the Prime Minister is more likely to dress up in a Coles high-vis top and pose for photos with them, and, rather than making big mining corporations pay their fair share, the Prime Minister is more likely to have dressed up in a Rio Tinto shirt. That's because this Prime Minister is more concerned with managing the economy for the profits of big corporations and billionaires than he is with the concerns of everyday people.

While Australians are struggling to keep a roof over their head, being smashed at the supermarket and paying too much on their power bills, the Labor government is backing big corporations. In the past year, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, CEOs are giving themselves double-digit pay rises while many of the same corporations call for wage restraint from their workers. We now have over 3.3 million people living in poverty. The number of people who can't find an affordable place to live grows, as does the number of people who are homeless. People are skipping meals so their kids don't miss out. The country's economy is rigged.

Labor and the Liberals both take huge donations from these big corporations. Labor and the Liberals have both refused to make them pay their fair share, and Labor and the Liberals have both refused to do anything about the price gouging from big corporations. People are fed up with the Coles and Woolies of politics ripping them off at every turn. It's why people tell me every day that they think it's harder and harder to tell Labor and the Liberals apart.

But it doesn't have to be this way. We can make the big corporations pay their fair share of tax. We can make groceries cheaper by making price gouging illegal. We can freeze rent increases and drive down the cost of housing. If we make the big corporations pay their fair share of tax, we can actually get to the heart of what's driving the cost-of-living crisis and start to invest in people. Now, we know these changes are going to be tough to achieve and that they won't happen overnight, but the first step is voting for someone who will fight for you. You can't keep voting for the same two parties and expect a different result.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.