David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Every single day that goes by without subsidising skyrocketing energy bills, raising wages, effectively dealing with the housing crisis and stabilising interest rates, this government from the Labor political party is choosing poverty for millions of people across the country. Poverty is a political choice, and it's a choice that this government, the Labor political party, is making each day. While corporate profits hit record numbers, there are more than half a million people languishing on the social housing waiting list across the country. And, while there are 5½ million people relying on Centrelink payments below the poverty line, this government is deciding to give $240-odd billion in tax breaks to the super wealthy and is even standing up while people in this place are about to pocket an extra $9,000 a year in tax cuts. And they accept that wages for ordinary people and ordinary people's living standards are going backwards.

Tomorrow, when the RBA raises interest rates again, the Labor political party will cry crocodile tears and say there's nothing they can do. That is a surrender of political leadership, and it's entrenching intergenerational disadvantage.

In my home town of Sydney, we've seen property and rental prices at historic highs. Young people in particular are suffering, and we've seen the Labor Party get into bed with property developers every time they're in government and never address affordable housing. There's never been a property developer that the New South Wales Labor party hasn't loved, and it's never ever succeeded in providing housing for the people who need it. The data shows that in Sydney, from Palm Beach to Cronulla and across to Baulkham Hills, you actually need to earn $100,000 a year just to avoid housing stress. It's obscenely common for people to be getting a $100 or $200 or $300 a week rental increase. No-one is getting a pay rise of that magnitude. But of course some uber-rich people are going to be offered tax breaks even greater than that by the Labor political party.

We should step in and support much needed rent freezes. It's a simple, achievable and meaningful step to hit pause on the cost-of-living crisis—just press pause on it. I've been out at Addi Road Food Pantry in Marrickville in the heart of Sydney and seen just how many people are coming in asking for help with putting food on the table right now. It's going to get worse tomorrow. Those people know that they can rely on their community to pitch in, and they should expect their government to do the same. I've joined with Turbans 4 Australia, out in Clyde, at their warehouse where they provide food for those who need it because of the policy failures of federal and state governments. They are taking the time to understand the real cost-of-living crisis. And, if you say you care about supporting those who are doing it tough, then you need to step up on delivering that, and this Labor political party needs to deliver policies that help the people most in need.