Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) Share this | Hansard source

At the outset I'll say that my thoughts and prayers are with those people in my home state of Queensland who are suffering with the devastating floods hitting the Townsville region and hitting towns like Ingham. We're thinking of you. Your Queensland representatives are thinking of you. You're in our hearts and minds. I thank all of the emergency services workers, volunteers and community leaders, who are doing the best they can in extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

The people of Ipswich and the Somerset region are suffering. Under the Albanese Labor government's cost-of-living crisis, the people of Ipswich and the Somerset region are suffering the highest financial stress in the whole of Queensland. Under the Albanese Labor government, across 151 regions in this country, the people of Ipswich and the Somerset region—and my office is located in the great Ipswich region—are ranked No. 12 out of 151 across the whole country for financial stress. It's not just me saying it; this is the result of analysis undertaken for Four Corners on the ABC and which was broadcast on Monday night. The analysis was undertaken by the University of New South Wales and consulting firm Digital Finance Analytics. This is not my analysis; this is independent analysis by independent experts. It is saying that the people of Ipswich and the people of the Somerset region are suffering the highest financial stress of any region across the whole of my home state of Queensland.

What does this analysis show? In 2021, under the coalition government, only eight per cent of federal electorates had a majority of households under financial stress, fewer than one in 10. Now, today, as we are in this chamber, the figure has risen from eight per cent of electorates to 82 per cent. Over eight in 10 electorates across this country have a majority of households suffering under financial stress due to the Albanese Labor government's cost-of-living crisis. In the Ipswich and Somerset region, 77.8 per cent of households are under financial stress. That means they are barely covering the necessities of life—housing, clothing and food—and have hardly anything else left over. That's 77.8 per cent of households in the Ipswich region and the Somerset region that are under financial stress. That's more than three in four households. If you walk down a street in Ripley, up the road from my office, or in Booval or Leichhardt, the people living in three out of four homes are under financial stress. Under the coalition government, it was fewer than three in 30. That's what we've got now in my region of Ipswich. If you walk down a street in Ripley, Booval or Leichhardt, the people living in three out of four homes are under financial stress. Let's not forget the people in the Somerset region. It is the same if you walk down a street in Lowood, Fernvale, Esk or Kilcoy: the people living in three out of four homes are under financial stress.

These are absolutely devastating figures, and they're due to the Albanese Labor government's cost-of-living crisis—high interest rates, skyrocketing rent and appalling economic management. The figures speak for themselves. Ipswich and the Somerset region have the 12th-worst figures across the whole country and the worst in Queensland. Let's go through those figures. Seventy-seven point eight per cent of households are suffering financial stress. Sixty-six per cent with mortgages are suffering financial stress—that's two-thirds of households with a mortgage under financial stress to meet the basic necessities of life in my region. Listen to this figure. This is devastating: 91.1 per cent of households who are renting in the greater Ipswich region or Somerset region are suffering financial stress. Over nine out of ten households renting in my region, the greater Ipswich region, where my office is based, can barely cover the necessities of life—shelter, food and clothing. That is an appalling state of affairs.

These are the worst figures in the whole of Queensland. Out of the 30 seats in this parliament representing the state of Queensland, the financial stress in Ipswich and Somerset are the worst, in my home state of Queensland. Across the whole of Australia there are 151 seats in the Australian parliament, and that region, where my office is based, ranks 12th for financial stress. The people of the Ipswich and Somerset regions are good people. They're great people. They love their community, they're hardworking and they're generous of spirit, but they're suffering terribly under the Albanese Labor government's cost-of-living crisis.

I have spoken about these issues in this place before the Four Corners documentary aired Monday night. I want to quote some of the figures which I discovered through the Parliamentary Library in relation to mortgage repayments. For an average house in Ripley, where there are many first home buyers, the average increase in mortgage repayments has been $1,440 a month, or $17,280 a year. That's a 76.4 per cent increase compared to when the coalition was in government. For an average house in Raceview, the increase is $1,300, or $15,600 a year, a 79 per cent increase.

But the impact is across the whole Ipswich region. Some of the biggest percentage increases are at the most affordable end of the market. For example, monthly mortgage repayments on an average unit in Brassall have increased by $1,078 a month, a staggering increase of 98.5 per cent, under the Labor government. They've nearly doubled. The Somerset region is just as bad in terms of financial stress. For an average house in Esk, the cost of a monthly mortgage repayment has increased by $1,431. That's a 122.2 per cent increase in mortgage repayments in Esk, which is within the Somerset region. These are devastating figures.

When you look at the soaring rents in the Ipswich region, it's just as bad. You can see why the documentary referred to the 91.1 per cent—over nine in 10 households—that are renting in the Ipswich and Somerset region that are under financial stress. For a one-bedroom flat in Ipswich, the most basic accommodation for a person in my community, the cost of renting in June 2022 was $265 a week. That has increased in the space of two years to $350 a week, an increase of $85 a week, 14.9 per cent, or $4,420 a year, extra in rent. That's why more than nine out of ten households in the greater Ipswich region who are renting are under financial stress. They can barely afford or not even afford the basic necessities of life—housing, clothing and food. If you have a large family in Ipswich and you're renting a three-bedroom house, the average rent has gone up by $5,720 a year. It's just as bad in the Somerset region. If you go to places like Lowood, Esk or Fernvale, more than nine out of ten households renting are under financial stress. The cost to rent a four-bedroom house in the Somerset region has gone up by $6,760 a year. That's devastating for those families in my region.

The people of Ipswich and the people of Somerset are suffering under this Albanese Labor government cost-of-living crisis. They're suffering. At the next federal election, the people of Ipswich have a choice. The LNP candidate for Blair is Carl Mutzelburg. Carl has lived and raised a family in Ipswich. His family are part of the Ipswich community. He knows the financial stress that the people of Ipswich are suffering because he sees it on the ground every day, and he has worked to help people in need in Ipswich his whole life. The people of Ipswich have suffered enough; the people of Somerset have suffered enough. Let's get Australia back on track.