Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's Melbourne Cup day today, and what a great day it is: 'the race that stops the nation'. But forget that; today we had 'the rate that stopped the nation'. What did the RBA do? They pulled the rate rise lever once again, for the 12th time since the Labor Party was elected. The Albanese government came to office promising they had a plan to lower the cost of living, a plan to lower the cost of power, a plan to lower interest rates, a plan to lower our power bills by how much? It was $275.

After 18 months in office, the only thing they have managed to lower is their polling numbers. The price of electricity is up. The price of groceries is up. The price of fuel is up. Immigration levels are up. Interest rates are up. The cost of housing is up. Rents are up. There is one thing that's down: the Prime Minister's approval rating. It will continue to go down because people are coming to their senses. They honeymoon is coming to an end—finally. People have realised that Labor just cannot manage the economy.

Heck, if they were a runner in the Melbourne Cup, they wouldn't have finished and they'd already be on the way to the glue factory. That's where they'd be—the glue factory.

This government came to power promising a plan to make the country a better place, a plan to improve everyone's situation. But, unfortunately, we're all worse off. I would love for the Prime Minister to explain what he proposes to do to address the costs of living in this country. Prime Minister, what is your plan? Perhaps, the Prime Minister could tell us the next time he decides to visit and stay in Australia.