Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice asked by Senator Paterson today relating to the Australian economy.

It's quite appropriate that that last hour or so of our parliamentary day is referred to as 'question time' and not 'answer time', because certainly if any good Australians were listening to what the Senate was discussing over this period, they would haven't any clearer answer as to what this government, the Labor Albanese government, is doing to address the rising inflation and cost-of-living pressures in this country.

We know that Australian households are feeling the pinch when it comes to the spiralling cost-of-living expenses and record high inflation. I note that inflation under the Albanese government is running at 6.1 per cent as of the June 2022 quarter. This is the highest rate of inflation in almost 32 years, since the December quarter in 1990. I was about six months old when inflation was last that high. I certainly expect that many people of my age and my generation would not really understand or would have experienced the pressures resulting from inflation this high in their lifetime.

Over the last few months, we've also seen the price of household goods skyrocket, increased costs of services and rising building costs. Australians feel these inflationary pressures every time they pass through the supermarket check-out, they head to their local medical practitioner or they want to treat their family to a day out to mark a special occasion. In my state of Tasmania, where we rely on air and sea freight services to transport essential household goods, such as groceries, the rising transport costs are only adding to the inflationary pain. All of these expenses add up and they make it harder and harder for Australian households to make ends meet.

Yet this government have failed to deliver any shred of a plan to immediately address the rising cost of living and the pressure of inflation on Australian households. They did have one idea. During the election campaign, we heard the Labor Party telling everybody time and time again that they would cut power bills by $275 a year for the average Australian household. Reducing the amount that Australians pay for their power would at least have provided some relief to household budgets, but they've abandoned that commitment. They've gone back on their promise, hoping that Australians wouldn't notice. Well certainly our job in opposition is to make sure that Australians notice that the Labor government have gone back on that commitment they made during the election. In abandoning that commitment, Labor have shown Australians that they have no real plan to tackle cost-of-living expenses and inflationary pressures. And while talk might be cheap for Labor, it doesn't result in cheaper power bills for Australians.

And what have Labor been doing instead of developing this plan to tackle rising inflation and the rising cost of living? Photo opportunities with American basketballers and moving to abolish the ABCC to appease their union mates. The Prime Minister was asked by reporters only this morning what he would do to address the cost of living. He responded with some sort of vague response about introducing legislation aimed at medicine prices and child care at some point in the future. I don't think that response is in any way going to address the immediate pressure of cost of living and inflation that is being felt by Australians. Australians expect an answer to this problem now, today. They don't expect one into the future. They don't expect, 'Oh, we'll look at this problem down the track,' or 'We'll think about it in the October budget'. These are pressures that Australians are feeling here and now on this very day. It certainly seems like the government are just making it up as they go along.

Adding further pain today to Australians paying off their homes, interest rates have continued to rise with the additional financial burden being felt by those making mortgage repayments. As the minister, Senator Gallagher, updated the chamber part way through question time today, the cash rate has increased by 50 basis points to 2.35 per cent, which signifies five consecutive months of rate rises, with borrowers starting to feel the pressure as they pay off their mortgages. Part of the great Australian dream has always been home ownership, and these rising interest rates are only going to add to financial impediments on those Australians looking to own a home of their own, looking to make ends meet at a time where cost of living and inflation are only getting higher.

As Australia grappled with the detrimental effects of the pandemic, the previous coalition government absolutely were aware that we needed a solid and multipronged approach to assist with Australia's economic recovery. That's what we did in government. That is our record, and it's disappointing to see this sort of response from the Labor government.