Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The cost of living is the No. 1 issue facing Australian families right now, and it's getting worse under Anthony Albanese and the Labor government. The Prime Minister said life would be cheaper under Labor; it is not.

A typical Australian household with a mortgage is $35,000 a year worse off than they were two years ago. Over $20,000 of that increase in the cost of living is in the 12 interest rate increases we've seen under this government. Remember, they said mortgages would be cheaper, but they're certainly not. The other $10,000 is in a range of things that have increased under this government. Remember the $275 cut to your power bill? No, it's up to a $1,000 increase for the typical Australian family.

Costs have gone up in health by 10.5 per cent. Education is up 11 per cent, food is up 12 per cent, housing is up 13 per cent, rents are up 16 per cent, financial insurance is up 17 per cent and gas is up 33 per cent. And I note, Speaker, as you would have, interest rates are falling across the globe but not here, in Australia, because of this government. They've been distracted by other things—no more so than by the divisive Voice referendum that they ran last year.

Families are working out that only a coalition government can manage the economy. Families have worked out that they can trust the coalition on bringing down the cost of living, they can trust the coalition on getting immigration numbers right and they can trust the coalition on keeping the lights on and affordable. They know they can't trust this lot. (Time expired)