Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I find it absolutely incredible that any of those opposite have the temerity to want to debate the cost of living when they all live in glass houses. First of all, they've opposed every measure put forward in our $23 billion cost-of-living package, a package that was carefully calibrated to ease the pressure on households without adding to inflation. Then they tell us that we're spending too much, even when we're delivering the first surplus in 15 years. Remember that it was the coalition that gave this country a trillion dollars in debt, with nothing to show for it. And then, finally, they tell us that we should be doing better when it comes to wages, yet they've opposed every measure we've put forward to get wages moving again.

Those opposite appear to have the memories of goldfish. They must have forgotten that when they were in government they openly admitted to deliberately keeping wage growth low. It was, to quote the then finance minister, 'a deliberate feature of our economic architecture'. Remember that? Then there is their criticism of us for inflation, but once again the opposition have got very short memories. The inflation challenge that we are dealing with was inherited from the previous government. Those opposite are very good at sniping. All they seem to be capable of doing is sniping, yet they did nothing to ease the pressure on struggling households, whether those households were in cities or rural or regional areas. They opposed almost every measure we put forward to ease that pressure, so we know that this situation would be a lot worse if they are still in government.

In fact, talking about farmers and the impact on farmers, let's look at just one thing that they did for farmers when they were in government because they do not do all that much. They made lots of announcements and appeared in the media and on TV a lot, but they didn't actually do all that much. There is one thing I must admit they did do. The former government cut the federal biosecurity budget by about $100 million per year. They were happy to jeopardise our biosecurity system, a system that I must remind people is critical to the prosperity of industry and obviously farmers. I don't think they were actually working in the farmers' interests. But we on this side do understand that, just like other businesses and households, our primary producers are also facing a series of challenges, including the collapsing livestock prices caused by oversupply due to impending dry conditions.

The Albanese government is committed to protecting and growing Australia's agricultural industry. But it is pretty rich, as I have said, that we are being lectured by the Nationals in the opposition on driving down confidence in the sector after the mess that they left behind from their decade in government. The opposition have been demanding to know why, after 18 months in government, we have not cleaned up the mess that they built over 10 years—their neglect, their incompetence. I am happy to remind those opposite of their record because they seem to be suffering from some sort of collective amnesia, not only forgetting that they created the mess but that they tried to stand in the way of our efforts to clean it up. As I said, I think they live in glass houses. But they still insist on throwing too many stones. The next time the opposition want to lecture us about the cost of living, I suggest they take a very long, hard look in the mirror.

Let's look at some of the elements of the cost of living. Housing: they spent a decade doing nothing to create affordable housing while waiting lists went through the roof. But then they voted against the Housing Australia Future Fund. Child care: costs went up by 28 per cent, and so once again it fell to Labor to make child care cheaper for 1.2 million families. Power bills: they had over 20 different energy policies in the 10 years that they were in government. That chaos and confusion led to increasing electricity prices, including increases they took deliberate steps to hide on the eve of an election, even going so far as to change the regulations to hide this fact. They also voted against our energy bill relief for millions of homes and businesses. Now let's talk about health care. They froze Medicare rebates for years and caused bulk-billing rates to fall. We have tripled the bulk-billing incentive and made medicine cheaper, a measure they threatened to oppose. Their record in government and their record for the past year and a half in opposition show their feigned concern for the pressures on households is little more than lip-service. (Time expired)