Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Coming back into the Senate chamber after two weeks, I would have expected there would be a lot more optimism from those opposite. I was thinking that they would come into this place with some policy ideas, yet all we have is the same negativity that we have heard since the last election.

The government has been very, very upfront and clear—as Senator Gallagher has been today—about the state of our economy. But we're also quite clear about what the government has been doing to help people, whilst we go through a very turbulent time in the economy, in particular in terms of cost-of-living relief that the parliament has passed—no thanks to those opposite, but with the support of the government and the crossbench—to support the many millions of Australians who do rely on, and need the support of, the government of the day. We understand it has been and it continues to be a very difficult time for many Australians. But let's not forget that the government has, from day one, as part of its economic agenda, made sure that we have supported the most vulnerable people in our society.

We also inherited an inflation figure that had a six in front of it. Since coming into office, we have lowered that. In fact, we've halved that; it now has a 3 in front of it. But we know there's a lot more work to be done, and that is why we are continuing to work, as a government, with many organisations, with many entities, including the RBA—although those opposite will have you believe that somehow we're 'against' and 'at war' with the RBA. What the government, and the Treasurer particularly, is trying to do is also reform government processes that, in some ways, need to be looked at every so often. We're trying to modernise the RBA for the 21st century.

It's also important to put things into context. Senator Canavan and others made some remarks here in the Senate today and provided some figures, but it's also worth mentioning on the record that those opposite, when they were in government for 10 years, had the deliberate design feature of their economic policy, their economic plan, to keep the wages of Australians low. Not once did they ever put in a submission to the Fair Work Commission to support an increase to the minimum wage—not once. But we backed those increases, and guess what? The commission has now accepted the government's arguments and we've started to get wages moving again.

We've also introduced a tax cut for 13.6 million Australians. Remember stage 3? Stage 3 meant that only a certain number of people were going to get a tax cut whereas now every single Australian is getting a tax cut, particularly those on low and middle incomes. This also complements the other measures the Albanese government has also managed to put in place through this parliament: cheaper child care; an increase in the Commonwealth rent assistance; electricity bill relief of $300 for every single household, and $325 for over one million small businesses. We've also managed to introduce fee-free TAFE, HECS bill relief and a freeze on many medicines on the PBS scheme. We're helping Australians every single day, and these are just some of the measures I wanted to highlight during this take note debate.

It's no surprise that the current Treasurer and former treasurer Wayne Swan would say that mortgage increases are difficult for families because the simple fact is they are. No-one wants to see mortgages go up—no-one does. But what's also important to note is the national accounts have shown that it's the government spending that is keeping the economy growing. Without the government, we would be in recession right now. I don't know if that's something that those opposite actually understand or want. Do you want to be in recession? Is that the ultimate endgame for the coalition?

The Treasurer only last week made this point very clear, and I quote:

… without growth in government spending, there'd be no growth in our economy at all.

… this justifies the way that we've managed the economy responsibly—fighting inflation as our primary concern but doing that without slashing and burning in a budget in an economy which is already weak …

The government is committed to ensuring inflation continues to moderate, and we'll continue to help families where it matters most.

Just touching on the RBA, with the 30 seconds I have left, I would make these points. The government cherish the independence of the RBA. It's why we are reforming the bank, to make sure it is as strong and as effective as it can be. Our reforms are all about making the bank stronger and more independent. The review recommended that overriding power will be removed to strengthen the independence of the bank. The power has never been used. In the interest of bipartisanship, I call on those opposite to back the government on our reforms.