Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank Senator Dean Smith for raising this matter of public importance. It's something that the coalition has been speaking about for such a long time, because this is what we're hearing every single day when we go out into the community and talk to people around how difficult and challenging the current environment is. It is an absolute cost-of-living crisis. It is a housing crisis and it is a rental crisis. At every point, people are suffering and struggling.

What we're concerned about is why this is not being dealt with in the way that it should be. This is a critical matter of importance, and we need our Prime Minister and our Treasurer to act. But it's not happening, and life is continuing to get harder and harder for all Australians. That's being reflected in the pressure on Australian charities, where working families are struggling to make ends meet, where working families have to make decisions about whether they can afford to buy the food that they need, which bill they're going to pay this week or what they're going to cut back on, or whether they can stretch something out for another couple of weeks. It's basic stuff too, like kids' haircuts. They have to say, 'That can wait an extra month or two,' or, 'That can wait an extra few weeks.' They are having to take normal everyday activities out of the family's life because they have to be able to afford their food, their electricity, their fuel, their rent or their mortgage, and that is a very sad state of affairs in a country like Australia.

The reality is that life under Labor is hard, and that is because of the actions, or lack of action, from this government. The current situation stands in absolutely stark contrast to what the Prime Minister promised before the last election, which was that everybody would be better off under this government. It's very, very clearly not the case. Not only is it not the case but sadly it couldn't be further from the truth. These aren't talking points; these are facts. Australians are paying 20 per cent more in income tax. Employees' real wages have collapsed by about nine per cent. Living standards have dropped by about eight per cent. Household savings have collapsed by about 10 percentage points. A homeowner with a $750,000 mortgage, which is roughly the average, is $35,000 a year worse off. That's an extraordinary amount of money to have to come up with. With food, health and education up by 11 per cent each, housing and rent up 15 per cent, finance and insurance up 17 per cent, electricity up 22 per cent and gas up 25 per cent, this is just absolutely relentless.

The impacts are being seen not only through the charity sector; the impacts are being seen through counselling services like the Debt Helpline. I'd like to read you something from an article I wrote a couple of weeks ago:

According to Helpline counsellor Mike Dunkley, the recent explosion in demand stems from the spiralling costs of housing. Over 60 per cent of calls are made by young people aged between 18 and 39—

I'll repeat that: over 60 per cent of calls are made by young people aged between 18 and 39—

with the majority of those being young women struggling to pay rent. No wonder young Australians have lost faith and trust in the political process and those charged with governing.

There's one further piece in this housing crisis, where we need our construction businesses and we need our tradies. Under this government, small and family businesses are being crushed by the weight of our flailing economy. ASIC reported more than 7,700 foreclosures from July 2023 to March 2024, with construction companies leading the way with more than 2,000 of these business failures. Construction companies need to lead the way out of our housing crisis, not lead the way into bankruptcy. This is a really, really dire state of affairs.

Yesterday in the other place, the Leader of the Opposition asked the Prime Minister why he promises one thing and then does the other. We didn't get a real answer from the Prime Minister that answers and addresses the real, lived experiences of Australians and how much they are struggling.