Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Poor Steven. His son Logan, a great driver, a real good talent, has got a hell of an engine, which does 107 on the straight. But Steven has to say that his son's racing career might have to go on hold because of housing costs going up. That's his entire future potential of life going away because housing is going up. Adding 715,000 people to the housing market does not bring that down. When we're building the infrastructure to service more housing at that number, putting in a freeze and review of all the infrastructure pipeline doesn't help that matter. That's where the rubber is not meeting the road. There are some very good things being said by this government about what it wants to do, but the legislation does not meet the aspiration.

When we're talking about the cost of living, the cost-of-living pressures aren't being put on by the Kremlin; they're coming from Kirribilli. They're not coming from Luhansk; they're coming from the Lodge, and to blame others is wrong. If only there were some mechanism government could have to work out where they were going to spend money for the next 12 months and four years, get some policies and come together one night, maybe a Tuesday in May, and say, 'This is what we'll do to make things better.' Maybe call it a budget night. If that were some time soon, they could have answers. But they don't. They have spin. Even this week, of all institutions, the ABC said numbers about debt and inflation are spin. The people of Australia don't want to know what happened five years ago; they want to know about this week, this month, this year. Can they pay their rents? Can they pay their electricity bills? Can they pay their grocery bills? There might be cost-of-living benefits in this budget, but we're putting up their taxes as well. It is tax and spend, all putting inflationary pressures on this. There are no answers; there is just spin, and people deserve better.

Question agreed to.