Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Lambie, no, I wouldn't accept that position. In fact, this government has done more than most when it comes to providing cost-of-living relief for all Australians, whether they be service personnel or any other working person in the community. You're aware of some of the things we have done that benefit service personnel just as much as they do any other worker, whether it be cheaper medicines or cheaper child care, and in some cases people would be eligible for energy rebates and a range of other measures as well.

I am aware the independent Reserve Bank board has today raised interest rates by 25 basis points, and we know that that decision will hit Australians hard. What we are doing about it is providing as much cost-of-living relief as we possibly can while recording a budget surplus—something that the coalition government were unable to do for the entire 10 years that they were in government—to take pressure off inflation and pressure off interest rates. We understand that this will be hitting a lot of Australians hard, and we will keep working hard to provide as much cost-of- living relief as we can. For a change, it would be nice to have the opposition's support.