Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Besides some offensive comments from the senator who spoke before me, I just want to say it's a very interesting approach to say 'honest and altruistic'. Those opposite voted against a $230 average saving to household power bills. That's what they did—that's their honesty. Do you know what? They are altruistic, because they did not support a wage increase of a dollar an hour—that's 'altruistic' when you're a conservative on that side of the chamber! They made sure they voted against multi-employer bargaining, which delivered productivity and better wages and which produced an opportunity for fair competition amongst companies. They voted against that. They voted against a secure jobs plan because they're 'altruistic'. If that's what altruism is then that's what is wrong in this country and why they were voted out. They don't understand the importance of making a difference in this country on so many fronts, the importance of building a better country that involves everybody.

When we go back to the energy program from those opposite, we see they didn't have one, and they didn't have one on 22 occasions. They had no policy. We were landed with no energy policy from those opposite, but we have had them vote against an energy policy that decreases and holds back average prices for power bills. They are the ones who hid the fact that there was a 20 per cent increase in the default market offer before the election. They are 'altruistic and honest'—what a load of rubbish!

It is disappointing to hear those sorts of false allegations made in this Senate, when the reality is that they didn't vote to hold back prices at $230, on average, per year and they lied about and misrepresented a 20 per cent increase in the default market offer. I can go on. In nine years there were 22 energy policies that didn't float, that didn't fly, that didn't progress, yet those opposite have the hide to come in here and talk about honesty and altruism. Being altruistic is actually about making a difference with the plans that you put forward.

Those opposite ignored 12 formal warnings from the ACCC about domestic gas supply—they ignored them! And these are the people who have the hide to come in here and say to the Australian people that not only do they not have an answer—that they haven't progressed an answer—but they vote against answers because that's the program that they have. Under those opposite we also saw a four-gigawatt infrastructural power leak, with only one gigawatt coming back in. Snowy 2.0 is running months late.

Of course, we've announced, quite rightly, our Energy Price Relief Plan. We've also announced our intent, in this May budget, to make some incredibly important changes to make sure there's relief and support for those in the Australian community who are doing it tough. They're doing it tough because the people opposite, who are not altruistic and not honest, have left this country in a hole of over a trillion dollars of debt. Whilst they were running off and giving billions of dollars to Qantas, without any obligations to the Australian public, and giving tens of millions of dollars to Harvey Norman, without any obligations and whilst its profits went up during COVID, leaving us with a trillion dollars of debt because of their mismanagement, we've been looking at areas like the Housing Australia Future Fund. They don't want to have 30,000 new social and affordable houses in this country in the next five years. They're voting against it. They've said they're opposed to it.

How could you be less altruistic and less honest while saying you are honest? Their approach to honesty in what they are delivering, in their views and their policies and their suggestions—their 'no-alition'—is to make sure that every Australian pays the price for their lack of thought, lack of preparation over the last decade and lack of capacity to support good policies that make a difference to the Australian public.

Of course, those good policies go to cheaper medicine under Medicare, a very important initiative—30 per cent less for prescription medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. They go to 180,000 free TAFE and vocational education and training places. That's about building up productivity and capacity within our community. They go to the $50 million TAFE Technology Fund. Again, it's all about improving capacity and productivity within the economy. That's smart spending not wasted spending. It's about making sure we make a difference.

We see those opposite consistently oppose policies to ease cost-of-living pressures through opportunities for better wages, or, alternatively, through policies that make a difference to energy prices.