Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Small issues? Goodness gracious me, I honestly thought I'd heard it all this week and over this last sitting fortnight. But for Labor senators to be describing the cost-of-living crisis as just a small issue really does take the cake, at almost 3.30 on the last Thursday of the sitting fortnight.

I think many Australians listening in to parliament over the last fortnight wouldn't have been particularly impressed by some of what we're hearing. It's been another week, another sitting day, more broken promises from the government, more dirty deals to get their legislation through this place. We have a government that are unable to deliver on the commitments they made during the election. They promised to cut electricity bills by $275. They promised Australians cheaper mortgages. They promised there would be no changes to superannuation. They promised Australians could expect to see their cost-of-living expenses go down. But, since then, we have seen the complete opposite of all those things occurring. It's rank hypocrisy from government.

I note, in Senator Ruston's first question in question time today, this week we have seen yet another one. This was a government that promised transparency, accountability, integrity and all these things—these commitments they made to the Australian people in the lead-up to the election last year. They promised to be a government of integrity. Yet we now have a situation where it has come to light that the Mobile Black Spot Program, which has been used to great effect previously to support local communities with the necessary communications infrastructure, is now being used to direct funding to a number of seats that are all Labor held seats. Twenty-seven out of 27 grants in New South Wales, under this funding stream, went to Labor seats. There were only three locations selected in Victoria; they went to Labor seats. The minister has directed that 40 of the 54 chosen sites in the most recent Mobile Black Spot Program $40 million round are locations in Labor seats. This was a government that promised it was going to do better. This was a government that promised integrity and transparency and accountability, and, quite frankly, I don't think that is what transparency and accountability and integrity look like.

Like I said, this is just another one in the long list of broken promises from this government that are just piling up and piling up. It is amazing how fast the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, changed his tune from when he was telling Australians that their lives would be easier under a Labor government during the election campaign to then being in government and systematically going back on key election commitments he made. At one point he even stated, 'If you make a promise and a commitment, you do have to stick to it.' That sounds like stating the very obvious. But the Prime Minister hasn't really stuck to his word, has he?

It doesn't stop there. This week we have seen more scheming and broken promises from this government. In doing their deal with the Greens to push through their safeguard mechanism reforms, Labor will inflict further pain on Australians. Instead of working to make life easier for Australians, which I'm sure is something they probably committed to during the election campaign as well, Labor has again put the Australian people last. They have capitulated to the demands of the Greens in putting the safeguard mechanism through this place this week, and they have sown the seats for not only the next energy crisis in this country but the next economic crisis in this country. We know the impact that is going to have on hardworking Australians and their families.    This Labor-Greens deal is a hard cap on economic growth, it is a hard cap on new industries, it is a hard cap on existing industries, and it is a hard cap on jobs. It will cast doubt out over new mining and gas projects which have the potential to provide energy security. These projects are necessary for the production of renewable technologies and projects that will help drive down energy prices, and yet Labor, in bed with the Greens, are doing everything they can to completely run these projects off the road.

Apparently, lowering the cost of electricity isn't that much of a concern for Labor anymore. All this deal is going to accomplish is irreparable damage to the energy market. It will penalise consumers—apparently, consumers haven't suffered enough already under this government. If only they had found it within themselves to pass on the $275 decrease to our power bills, then maybe we wouldn't be in this position.