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

by leave—I move Australian Greens amendments (1) to (3) on the sheet revised 10 September 2024 as circulated in my name, together:

(1) Schedule 1, item 2, page 3 (lines 20 to 23), omit the item.

(2) Schedule 1, items 4 to 6, page 4 (lines 1 to 9), omit the items.

(3) Schedule 1, Part 2, page 5 (lines 1 to 8), omit the Part.

At the moment, everyday people are in the grips of a massive cost-of-living and inequality crisis that they didn't cause, but they are the ones who are suffering as a result of it. People can see this. People are skipping meals to pay the rent. People are going to free meal services because they can't afford to pay their mortgage. People are forgoing essentials because life is getting too hard. It's not getting too hard for the big corporations and the big banks who are making massive profits off the back of people's pain, but it is getting incredibly hard for people, and the housing crisis is breaking people.

In the middle of this crisis, there are two ways of dealing with it. There are two ways of dealing with the fact that prices are soaring and putting people under enormous pain. One way is the Labor and Liberals' way, and that is to use everyday people as cannon fodder in the fight against inflation. Labor says, 'We will let big corporations charge as much as they want for whatever they want and make excessive profits, and we won't tax them.' Labor says, 'We will let landlords keep putting up the rent by unlimited amounts.' Labor says, 'We will let the big banks make massive profits off the back of people's pain,' and Labor says that they will not stop price gouging at the supermarkets and will let the supermarkets charge whatever they like. If all of that pushes inflation up, then Labor says, 'We'll let the RBA, the Reserve Bank, deal with it.'

The problem is the Reserve Bank's really only got one tool at its disposal at the moment. It can put interest rates up or put them down. And, when Labor leaves all the heavy lifting to the Reserve Bank, of course they put up interest rates. Labor then claims, 'Shock, horror—we didn't know you were going to do that,' when the Reserve Bank has done exactly what Labor asked them to do, because Labor has left all the inflation heavy lifting to the Reserve Bank instead of taking on the big corporations who are price gouging and putting up prices, which is driving inflation.

The problem is, if, like Labor, you leave everything to be Reserve Bank when the only tool that you've got at the Reserve Bank is a hammer, then every problem looks like a mortgage-holder-sized nail, and, as a result, people are being smashed and asked to fix a problem that they didn't cause. Higher mortgages, higher rents and higher prices at the supermarket are all avoidable if the government has the courage to step in and do something about them.

There is an alternative way of dealing with the crisis that we find ourselves in, and that is tackling the problem at its source. We could pass laws to stop price gouging, to stop the supermarkets charging outrageous prices for products that people will then have to put back into their trolley when they get to the checkout because they simply can't afford it. We could cap and freeze rent increases. The Reserve Bank itself says that soaring rents are one of the main drivers of inflation. So why don't we stop rents going up so much to the point that people are now skipping meals to pay the rent or that many people in this country are just one unfair rent increase away from eviction? Not only would that make people's lives a lot easier and ensure that people don't have to worry about whether or not they're going to have a roof over their heads but it would also help tackle inflation.

What you could also do once you've stopped the price gouging is stop the excessive profiteering of the big corporations. Make them pay their fair share of tax on their excessive profits, and use that to address some of the massive cost-of-living pressures that people are under. This is an alternative way of tackling inflation. And then you could also step in and use the power that you've got to say: 'No, Reserve Bank; stop raising interest rates, because we're doing something different instead.' Stop asking everyday people and mortgage holders to pay the price to fix a problem that they did not cause. That would be an alternative way. It requires a bit of guts to take on the big corporations, but it is what everyday people in this country want. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, the government should be putting its hands on the steering wheel and pulling whatever lever it has got rather than taking this hands-off approach and then acting shocked when the Reserve Bank does exactly what it's asking it to and keeps lifting interest rates.

There is an alternative way of tackling this massive cost-of-living and inequality crisis that is gripping people, an alternative way that doesn't ask people to pay the price for a problem that they didn't cause: take on the corporations, stop the price gouging, stop rents going up by unlimited amounts, stop the interest rates going up to the point that is pushing people and the economy to the wall, and make the big corporations pay their fair share of tax. If you do all of that, you don't need to lift interest rates and you stop rents rising, because you tackle the problem at its source. One of the things that Labor and Liberal love to say is: 'We can't do anything about this, because it is all in the hands of the independent Reserve Bank.' That is pantomime politics, because they are saying through legislation, 'We want you, the Reserve Bank, to put up interest rates.' Labor is saying, 'We're not going to stop prices soaring out of control,' and then—shock, horror!—the Reserve Bank does exactly what the government is asking it to do.

It is not an accident that the Reserve Bank is raising interest rates to the point that it is smashing people and starting to smash the economy. It is Labor's strategy for tackling inflation when there is an alternative right before it. This suggestion that there's somehow nothing the government can do about it—the lie is given to that by this very legislation. What this legislation shows and what this amendment seeks to fix is that existing within current legislation is the power for the government to step in right now and stop interest rates from going up. The government has the power under this legislation to stop it happening right now and to do all of those other things that would tackle inflation and stop inflation without hurting everyday people. Yes, it would hurt the big corporations and their profits a bit, but it would help everyday people. That's an alternative way. But, to do that, you have to step in and pull the levers that you've got and stop pretending that you've got no power to fix problems.

Australia is facing some very big problems at the moment, and what we need are politicians who are prepared to get in, intervene and tackle those problems at its source, rather than saying, 'Hands off. I'll leave it all up to others, even if it means that people are pushed to the wall.' Do you know what the consequence of this is? The logical consequence of Labor's policy—of outsourcing the inflation fight to the Reserve Bank and then pretending there's nothing they can do about interest rates—is having officials say to you, 'Well, you could always sell your house,' because you can't afford the interest rates, or, 'I'm sorry; I understand that some people might lose their homes as a result of this.' That is just the logical consequence of Labor and the Liberals' approach to tackling inflation.

What we're seeking to do with this amendment is to say, 'Let's keep the power of the government to step in where there's a crisis,' because we say now is a crisis. And no-one fronted up before to say, 'This power of the Treasurer should be gotten rid of.' It's there for a reason. It's there to stop people being crushed by this system that allows the big corporations to make massive profits off the back of people's pain and then push people into homelessness or being forced to sell their houses, on the advice of the government-appointed Reserve Bank governor. That is what we are facing in this country at the moment. And it will be said, 'Oh, no, we couldn't interfere with the decisions of the Reserve Bank because that would have flow-on consequences.' Well, the consequences are happening now.

Can I say: if Australia was known as a country where the government was prepared to stop the Reserve Bank smashing the economy and instead it stopped the big corporations' price-gouging and ensured that everyone in this country had what they needed to live a good life, this would be a place that people wanted to come to from all around the world. You would have people coming here, you would have investment coming here, because we would be known as a country that puts people before the profits of the big corporations. Right? That is what is at stake here.

Don't get rid of this power. Don't get rid of the section 36 power that would allow the government to say to the Reserve Bank: 'Stop funnelling so much money into the pockets of wealthy property investors and inflating house prices. Put it into productive areas instead.' Let's get our hands back on the steering wheel. Let's pull the levers that we've got, to stop people sinking even further in this housing crisis that is just breaking people.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his contribution. During the contribution, the member used an unparliamentary comment. Before I move on to the amendments, I would just ask you to withdraw that part of the comments. It's a longstanding—

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

I'm not sure what it was, but, to assist the House, I withdraw.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do appreciate the member for Melbourne for that.

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

The question before the House is the amendments moved by the Leader of the Australian Greens be agreed to.

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

The question before the House is that the bill be agreed to.