Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Dr Chalmers have some explaining to do. They need to explain to Australian households why they are living through a cost-of-living crisis, and they need to explain to Australian businesses why they are now living through a cost-of-doing-business crisis.

Prior to the election just two years ago, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was then the opposition leader, made a promise. He said that Australians would be better off under Labor. He said they would be better off when it comes to their mortgage repayments and their cost of living. In fact, two years into this government, just two years, the country has seen again the poor economic management of Labor.

So why is it that Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister, and Dr Jim Chalmers, the Treasurer, have chosen to make Australians poorer? Because running the economy is something that the government consciously does. The Prime Minister gets up in the morning, the Treasurer gets up in the morning and, if we're to believe Labor senators, this is their top priority. This is the thing that they are most consumed about. Well then why is it that their decisions and their actions are making businesses and families poorer?

It was revealing last week at the Senate cost-of-living inquiry in Sydney. Assistant governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Sarah Hunter, made it very clear. Dr Hunter said: 'We just think the economy is running a little bit hotter than we thought previously. As a result of that, we think it's going to take a bit longer for inflation to get back to target.' The economy is running 'a little bit hotter' said the RBA deputy governor. And guess who is feeling the heat of that? Australian families—through higher inflation, higher interest rates—and now Australian businesses as many of them begin to go to the wall.

Just today the Westpac bank released some very interesting data and commentary on the performance of the Australian economy. Reflecting on consumer sentiment, Westpac said, 'Consumer sentiment dipped 1.1 per cent in July, remaining in the deeply pessimistic range that has dominated for two years now.' Westpac is saying that consumer sentiment is now in the 'deeply pessimistic range'—a range that has dominated for two years. When reflecting on the plight of young Australians who want to get into their first home, Westpac said today: 'Around housing, home buyer sentiment sank back to new lows but consumer price expectations cooled. Nationally, the index has been at extremely weak levels, at or below the 80 mark, for 2½ years now—easily the most sustained period of depressed home buyer sentiment over the history of the survey.' Don't believe me? Westpac says that the sentiment of aspirational first home buyers is now 'depressed' and at 'historic lows'.

Of course, the pain is being felt by households, and now it's being felt by small businesses. Just this month, ASIC released its most recent report into small business insolvencies. It revealed that 11,000 businesses had become insolvent in the last 12 months. In my home of state of Western Australia, 1,079 businesses have become insolvent in the last 12 months. The alarming figure is, unfortunately, this one: 379 WA businesses became insolvent in the June quarter alone, and that is one business in every seven hours.

The record of the government is clear. Australians are being punished by Labor. They deserve to know why Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Dr Jim Chalmers want to make their lives so hard for them. In my home state of Western Australia, the WA Labor Party said it would back Western Australians. It has not backed Western Australians. It has made their lives harder, and it has made businesses poorer. The country is poorer because of this Labor government.