James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

A couple of weeks ago we had the Nambour show, which is now known as the Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show. It's a show that I went to when my family were canefarmers on the coast. And as the local senator, my office is in Nambour. Marty Hunt, who was our candidate for Nicklin—a local copper—had a stall at the show, and Ted O'Brien, who's the local member for Fairfax, had a stall. And I did what many on our side of politics do, which is stand there and listen to the concerns of people at the Nambour show. We even had one of those placards for people to put stickers on.

What people are concerned about—the No. 1 issue in Queensland, whether at the Nambour show or out in Quilpie or Cairns or wherever it is—is the cost of living. What drives the cost of living? It is inflation. What we saw today, an inflation rate of four per cent, is a figure that should send a shiver up the spine of every Australian, because they know things are going to get more expensive. And what is driving inflation? The main factor driving inflation is that we have a federal Labor government who are spending billions and billions of dollars driving up the cost of everything.

Why are your mortgages going up? Well, you've got a federal Labor government, and since they've been in power, mortgages have gone up 12 times. Why is your rent going up? You've got a federal Labor government who fail to understand how to achieve an equilibrium in the housing market so we can get young people into the housing market and open up the housing supply. It is cost of living.

What is also interesting is that the concerns of my fellow Queenslanders reflect the concerns of David Crisafulli and the state LNP. Mr Crisafulli's priorities—the right priorities for Queensland—are based on housing, health, crime and the cost of living. Queenslanders are getting a double hit at the moment. They've got a state Labor government who are throwing money out the door like a particularly drunken sailor on shore leave, and we've got a federal Labor government who are doing a pretty good job at aping it. That is what is driving the cost-of-living crisis in Australia.

Finally, I'm not someone who pretends to know a lot about sport—indeed, I broke my arm playing tennis, so I'm not a particularly sporting person—but tonight is the State of Origin. It would be remiss of me, as a Queensland senator, not to say rude things about the Blues, 'the Cockroaches', and also wish my team, the Maroons, 'the Cane Toads', all the best for tonight.

Question agreed to.