Linda White (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The government understands that the rising cost of living is hurting Australians. The Prime Minister and the Treasurer know that it is hitting a lot of Australians hard. The government knows this too, and I know that. I think the Australian people understand that we didn't create these challenges, but they elected us to take responsibility for addressing them.

The Albanese government has a three-point plan for addressing the inflation and cost-of-living challenge in the economy; it's about relief, repair and restraint. I'll break it down. It's about responsible cost-of-living relief and policies, like our cheaper childcare policy, cheaper medicines and direct energy bill relief. We're also repairing the supply-side constraints by introducing fee-free TAFE; cleaner and cheaper energy; the National Reconstruction Fund, which, hopefully, will go through the parliament; and a plan for more affordable housing. We've also got a responsible budget with spending restraint, as I said. We want to return almost all the revenue upgrades to the bottom line and keep spending essentially flat over the next four years, not to add to inflation.

There's absolutely a plan, but let's think about how those opposite have tried to thwart it. Let's talk about electricity prices. The question to the minister was about electricity prices, but let's take a closer look. It seems to me that those opposite have a bit of amnesia about what they actually did last year. Maybe they can't remember what they did during the Morrison years.