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

I think it is very handy to read out this matter of public importance for those who are playing along at home. I will read out what this debate is about today and why it is a matter of public importance—that is, the Reserve Bank of Australia told the Senate cost of living committee that government spending means that interest rates must be higher for longer. But, instead of heeding this warning and reducing spending to allow the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut rates, Labor has spent an additional $315 billion since coming to office and told Australians they should be grateful the government is being so helpful. It is very much a Marie Antoinette approach to fiscal policy—that is, the mob are doing it tough, but you should be grateful you have the Labor Party in power because we are being so nice to you.

The thing is it is actually the policies of the Labor Party that are causing Australians, in particular Queenslanders, my constituents, a lot of pain and a lot of suffering. When it comes to inflation, that means the cost of living. Australia is in a cost-of-living crisis that has been caused by the policy decisions of this Labor-Green government. If you have a mortgage—and the average mortgage in Australia at the moment is about $750,000—since Labor have come to power, you are now $35,000 a year worse off because of the Labor Party, because of the 12 interest rate rises that have happened under the watch of the Labor Party. So you are in middle Australia, you have a mortgage, you're doing it tough, but it's even tougher because of the Labor Party.

The Labor Party profess to be the friends of working Australians, but working Australians have found out since Labor have come to power that the price of food has gone up 11 per cent, health has gone up 11 per cent, education has gone up 11 per cent, housing has gone up 15 per cent, rent has gone up 15 per cent, financial and insurance issues have gone up 17 per cent, electricity has gone up 22 per cent—I will come back to electricity in a moment—and gas is up 25 per cent. It is a cost-of-living crisis. And what do we get from the Labor Party? Well, it is the political equivalent of crickets or the political equivalent of a fruit salad in terms of the words that they throw at this particular issue, but they are failing to take any real action apart from making it worse.

I mentioned that electricity had gone up 22 per cent since Labor have come to power. Who can forget that before the last election Anthony Albanese promised at least 97 times that he would cut your power bills by $275? That was a core promise, a core commitment. He so believed it he said it 97 times. Well, hands up in this chamber if you think your power bills have gone down by $275? Just so those people following along who have the misfortune of reading this Hansard later know, no-one put their hand up. In fact, across Australia no-one is putting their hand up to show that their power bills have gone down by $275.

Labor will promise anything before an election to try and get in, but, ultimately, the Australia people always find out that Labor will always cost you more. Before the last election, the coalition said that life would not be easy under Mr Albanese. How right we were, because life under Mr Albanese and the Labor Party government is actually really tough at the moment. But what we do have is a prime minister who likes to spend time on the red carpet, who likes to go to celebrity weddings, a prime minister who is actually not across his brief, a prime minister who is frankly not just a disappointment but a disaster for Australia, and the sooner he calls an election, the better so that we can throw out this Labor government and bring in Peter Dutton as Prime Minister.