Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to make a contribution on the MPI today:

The need for the Government to adopt immediate action to ease pressure on cost of living for Australian families and small businesses.

It is a little ironic that if you google the Australian Labor Party's website the first three words you will see as it pops up on the screen are, 'A better future'. If you then explore it a little further, this is what it says:

Anthony Albanese and Labor have a plan for a better future.

Australians deserve a leader who is not afraid to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work needed to get things done.

The Albanese Government is focused on tackling the spiralling cost of living that is making life tough for too many Australians.

Then you click on the Powering Australia policy. Despite the fact that one of their first actions as a government was to completely backtrack on a commitment they took to the election, which was that Labor:

… will cut power bills for families and businesses by $275 a year for homes by 2025, compared to today.

that is actually still on the Australian Labor Party's website. It's a little strange because what they state is they are focused on tackling the spiralling cost of living that is making life tough for far too many Australians. You have an admission by the Labor government that there is a spiralling cost of living. You have an admission by the Labor government that that is making life tough for Australians. But then you have a failure to back these admissions in with any sort of plan.

What we saw yesterday just adds to the increasing cost-of-living pressures that Australian families and small businesses are now facing. Without a doubt it was a tough day yesterday for the around 3.5 million families that have a mortgage. Today we saw the Minister representing the Treasurer, when asked how much more the average family would pay on the average mortgage, be quite dismissive: 'A couple of hundred bucks.' A couple of hundred bucks means a lot for families across Australia. A couple of hundred bucks means a lot for small businesses out there, in particular when that figure is not just a couple of hundred bucks; it's a couple of hundred bucks month after month after month. In fact Australians with an average mortgage of $610,000 will soon pay over $500 more per month on their repayments than they were in May.

When you look at what the Australian Labor Party under Anthony Albanese says—they have a plan for a better future, they acknowledge there is a spiralling cost of living, they acknowledge this spiralling cost of living is making life tough for Australians—you would think that when asked a question in the Australian parliament they would be able to clearly articulate what their plan is to tackle the spiralling cost of living. Yet there isn't one. The government has no plan. Despite being in opposition for nine years, they come into government and have no plan to address the cost-of-living pressures. That should disappoint all Australians.

All Australians who have a mortgage are going to be paying more. See the interviews that were conducted with Australians in the streets today: some of them are actually saying, 'I now have to choose whether I spend money on food so I can eat or whether I pay my mortgage.' And what do the Australian Labor Party say? In the first instance, they blame the former government. Well, the bad news is they are now in office. Then they walk away from their election commitment to cut power bills by $275 compared to what they were when they came into office. People actually listened to that promise. They listened to it, and they said, 'I actually like it and I'm going to vote for it,' and Labor have already broken that promise to the Australian people.

They also have no plan, as I've said, to address the immediate cost-of-living pressures. One of the ways that you could address the immediate cost-of-living pressures has been put forward by the opposition leader, Peter Dutton. He's been very upfront: if Mr Albanese and Labor wanted to adopt this plan, we would actually welcome that. That is, of course, our policy so that older Australians can keep more of what they earn. You have a government that says, 'We are focused on tackling the spiralling cost-of-living pressures that are making life tough for Australians.' You have a government that does not have a plan, but you have an opposition leader in Peter Dutton who, within but a few weeks of being the opposition leader, releases a policy that will actually help older Australians keep more of what they earn, and he says to the Labor government: 'We would welcome it if you adopted this policy.' Why? Because it's a sensible policy. It's been welcomed by stakeholders, in particular those stakeholders—small businesses—who are facing a battle to get more people to work at the moment with the skills shortage.

The change itself, of course, would make it more worthwhile for older Australians to pick up an extra shift or work extra hours. It is a plan that would help small businesses and regional businesses deal with labour shortages. We know, in particular, in certain industries employers in small businesses—in fact, in all businesses, but in particular in small businesses—cannot find staff. If Mr Albanese and Labor were to adopt the policy put forward by opposition leader Peter Dutton, this would ensure that thousands of jobs across hospitality, agriculture, tourism and the retail market remained open. As I've said, Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, has been very, very upfront. He is more than happy for Mr Albanese to adopt this problem, because we actually want Labor to have a plan.

They have a recognition that there are these spiralling cost-of-living pressures. They have a recognition that Australians are doing it tough. We saw only yesterday the increase in the interest rates. As I said, with the average mortgage of $610,000, that means the average family, month after month, is now going to be paying $500 more. Then we have a policy that they could adopt that would actually go directly to ensuring that they did have a plan, or at least part of a plan, that would address the spiralling cost of living and that would address in particular what is making life tough at the moment for so many Australians. This is a well-targeted policy. It is a well-targeted policy that is designed to increase labour supply. It is designed to ease workplace shortages—we all know there are workplace shortages—but also to put downward pressure on inflation and interest rates.

What have we heard from the Labor government so far? Absolutely nothing. What we do have before us, though, is a government that told Australians that, by voting for it, they'd get a better future. It tells Australians that it acknowledges there's a spiralling cost-of-living issue. It tells Australians: 'We know that you're doing it tough.' But then, when those opposite are questioned on what they are going to do now—