Alex Antic (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I listened to the previous contributions and all the way through question time, and I'm reminded of the suggestion that it's very simple to say that everything that's happening now is the result of what happened five years ago, one year ago, 10 years ago. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is much more stark for the government. I looked up the definition of the term 'buyer's remorse' and, if you will indulge me for a moment, I can tell you that buyer's remorse is defined as a feeling of regret or anxiety after making a purchase. It is also known as buyer's regret or buyer's disappointment. It stems from the feeling that the purchaser's decision was the wrong one either because it was the wrong one or there was a better one to be made.

The Australian people are in the early stages of buyer's remorse with this government. This is the kind of buyer's remorse that you'd get if you went onto Apple Music and downloaded a Vengaboys album. You would listen to it, and you would feel buyer's remorse, which I can assure you is real. I'm telling you right now it is real, and thank you to Senator Waters for that chuckle. I note it, and I hope that Hansard picked it up! The reality is that this is a cost-of-living crisis, and Australian people are not interested in the diversionary tactics of this government. These tactics include things like the Voice, the constant attempts by the Prime Minister to simply turn up at a sporting event and appear to be relatable by downing free beers and the PM flying off to Kyiv in order to mingle with the global glitterati, the bloke in the green T-shirt that's gracing our TV screens at every possible opportunity—I'm talking about President Zelenskyy.

This bread-and-circuses approach to politics is simply not cutting it with the Australian people. They're not that silly, and this afternoon we've seen yet another 25 basis points increase to the cash rate announced by the RBA, which brings these increases to nine in a row. We now have the highest interest rate in this country for 10 years, which is no laughing matter. No amount of diversion, no amount of trying to divide Australians with initiatives like the Voice, and, as Senator Brockman rightly pointed out, no initiatives like removing the cashless debit, which has had a counter effect, is going to cover up the fact that Australians aren't buying what the government is selling. In fact, we are seeing a government that is actively going back on promises. There was a promise to cut the $3.2 billion in spending on consultants, yet the government is already $1.2 billion down the tube after just nine months.

The spending bill is real, and the cost-of-living issue is real. It's the issue that Australians are focused on, and yet we have a Treasurer who graced us with 6,000 words of intolerable diatribe. I started reading it, and it was like a murder mystery, an Agatha Christie novel. I'll give you the spoiler alert: who done it? It was the Treasurer with the chequebook in the finance department. This position has not come as a result of the government of Christmas past. This position has come about because of decisions that have been made by this government today. The Treasurer, Jim 'you will own nothing and be happy' Chalmers, wants to tell us otherwise, but this is the case. These aren't uniquely Australian economic challenges, and we haven't spoken about high inflation. We're seeing the highest inflation we've seen in decades, and this year about 800,000 Australian mortgage holders are going to switch from fixed-term to variable-term interest rates. With today's news that those interest rates are going up, we are looking at repayments of something in the order of $1,800 extra per month for many mortgage holders.

Let's not beat around the bush and try to blame this on things done by the Fraser government the 1980s, say. These things are happening as a result of policy levers that are being pulled by this government, and don't take just my word for it. In the past week, the Australian Industry Group, Business Council of Australia and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry pre-budget submissions have all echoed the coalition opposition's calls since the October budget to restore fiscal guard rails, to rein in spending and to drive productivity reforms to support businesses, invest and grow our economy.

Question agreed to.