Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hollie Hughes for bringing this very important matter before the Senate today. It's an opportunity for us to make a contribution as senators, and I stand today in solidarity with what Senator Hughes said in her contribution. We are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis—that's for sure. Every Australian is experiencing it. Obviously, it's affecting some far more than others, but it is a crisis. I don't think that is putting too strong a word on it. I don't tend to use alarmist language—I try to be as measured as I can be, though sometimes I have a little flourish here and there—but it is a crisis that Australians are facing. Cost of living is without doubt the No. 1 issue that Australians are facing.

When the government were in opposition they repeatedly said that they were going to make the cost of living easier for Australians. Well, it's clear that the Albanese government have no plan at all to deal with this cost-of-living crisis or, indeed, inflation. Inflation is running out of control, and I don't think the government have brought forward a single policy that goes to addressing it. They've left it all up to the RBA. The RBA just put interest rates up, which of course impacts the amount of money people have in their household budgets, because their mortgage payments go up. The government are not doing anything to reduce inflation by putting downward pressure on government expenditure. They've said that wage growth should match inflation so that people don't go backwards. With no plan at all to place downward pressure on inflation and chase inflation with wage rises, inflation is only going to continue to rise. As I said, instead of working in tandem with the Reserve Bank to bring down inflation, the government is putting all its energy into breaking election promises and taxing Australians more.

Someone who would know something about the impact that Australians are facing, particularly those on low to middle incomes, is the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army's general manager of policy and advocacy, Ms Jennifer Kirkaldy, said:

What we have found is that the people who were already doing it tough are now experiencing extreme hardship.

The people we work with, especially those reliant on government payments, are making impossible decisions between food and rent or essential medicines and school supplies for their children.

The current situation is unsustainable. Immediate action is needed to relieve pressure on the most disadvantaged in our community.

But everything that this government does, frankly, is only making matters worse. We are now up to the 10th consecutive interest rate rise. An Australian with a typical mortgage of $750,000 is paying $1,700 extra per month—that's, $20,000 per year. Late last year the government hurried in their new enterprise bargaining laws. It was just before Christmas. They claimed it was a Christmas present. Well, it was only a Christmas present for the union movement. It certainly wasn't a Christmas present for workers and for people struggling to pay that extra $20,000 a year on their mortgage.

Just this last week we saw the Productivity Commission tell us in its five-year productivity inquiry report:

… the new multi-enterprise arrangements pose some risks that could constrain productivity growth and hence the scope for enduring real wage rises over time.

…   …   …

Forcing unwilling employers or employees into multi-enterprise agreements in which they had no bargaining role may limit these shared productivity and other benefits. This may not just affect individual employers, but employees too may relinquish beneficial changes in working arrangements or higher wages.

So the government are actually putting in place policies that are increasing hardship on families, just because they need to pay their masters within the union movement and just because they don't actually understand how to manage an economy and put downward pressure on inflation. What we're seeing is that this government is unwilling to make tough decisions. Instead, they just allow Australian households to bear all the burden.