Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I asked a very simple question of the Leader of the Government in the Senate: 'Can you remember the last time unleaded petrol, on average, cost less than $2 a litre?' We still haven't had the answer to that question. Labor member after Labor member has got up and told us how focused they are. Their No. 1 focus is the cost of living. Not one of them could tell us the last time the price of fuel was under $2 a litre. They are so focused on the cost of living they don't know the last time the price of fuel was under $2 a litre, on average, across Australia. That's how focused they are.

They get up and they tell us that they understand how much this is hurting Australian families, that they care about the impact on Australian families. What Australian families want is not the government's understanding; they want the government to do the things they promised they would do before the election. That's what Australian families want. This government promised Australian families a $275 reduction in their energy prices. What has this government delivered? A 20 per cent plus increase in electricity prices, not a $275 reduction. This government promised higher real wages. What's this government delivering? Lower real wages. They dress it up in tricky language. They talk about getting wages moving again, but they don't admit and are not honest with the Australian people about the fact that real wages are reducing under this government. They have a go at us, yet real wages rose under the period of the previous government. Real wages increased under the coalition. There was low inflation, yes, and lower wage increases than the percentage numbers we're seeing now, but there was a real increase in wages. So people are actually seeing their overall situation go backwards under this government when they were promised it would go the other way.

Australians don't want the government's understanding. They want them to keep their promises. They want them to do what they said they would do. They inferred; that's what Mr Albanese was doing, when he said, in a photo op, 'Who remembers when petrol was under $1 a litre?' That's what that was all about; that was when it was 175.9c, just prior to the last election. No-one over there can tell us when it was last under $2. It was a simple question. But what did we get? We got the angry coming out. That's what we got. We ask the government a simple question about their promise, and what do we get? We get name-calling and the angry coming out.

The Australian people said very clearly last Saturday that they're sick of the name-calling. They don't want the guilt trip. They want some respect in this place, and that's what we should be seeing in a post-Jenkins environment. We asked a simple question. It's reasonable for us to ask that that question be answered. For the Australian people, it's reasonable to expect that the promises this government made when they were seeking election are kept. It's a pretty simple thing. We talked about restoring confidence in government. We talked about transparency. We're seeing none of that.

Let's go back to those promises. They promised lower inflation and they're delivering higher inflation. They promised a $275 reduction in electricity bills and they're delivering a 20 per cent plus increase. The inference was that they could lower fuel prices, and now they can't remember when the price of fuel was under $2. They promised higher real wages and they're delivering lower real wages. Australians deserves a government that will keep its promises.

Question agreed to.