Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice asked by Senator Paterson today relating to the Australian economy.

It's quite appropriate that that last hour or so of our parliamentary day is referred to as 'question time' and not 'answer time', because certainly if any good Australians were listening to what the Senate was discussing over this period, they would haven't any clearer answer as to what this government, the Labor Albanese government, is doing to address the rising inflation and cost-of-living pressures in this country.

We know that Australian households are feeling the pinch when it comes to the spiralling cost-of-living expenses and record high inflation. I note that inflation under the Albanese government is running at 6.1 per cent as of the June 2022 quarter. This is the highest rate of inflation in almost 32 years, since the December quarter in 1990. I was about six months old when inflation was last that high. I certainly expect that many people of my age and my generation would not really understand or would have experienced the pressures resulting from inflation this high in their lifetime.

Over the last few months, we've also seen the price of household goods skyrocket, increased costs of services and rising building costs. Australians feel these inflationary pressures every time they pass through the supermarket check-out, they head to their local medical practitioner or they want to treat their family to a day out to mark a special occasion. In my state of Tasmania, where we rely on air and sea freight services to transport essential household goods, such as groceries, the rising transport costs are only adding to the inflationary pain. All of these expenses add up and they make it harder and harder for Australian households to make ends meet.

Yet this government have failed to deliver any shred of a plan to immediately address the rising cost of living and the pressure of inflation on Australian households. They did have one idea. During the election campaign, we heard the Labor Party telling everybody time and time again that they would cut power bills by $275 a year for the average Australian household. Reducing the amount that Australians pay for their power would at least have provided some relief to household budgets, but they've abandoned that commitment. They've gone back on their promise, hoping that Australians wouldn't notice. Well certainly our job in opposition is to make sure that Australians notice that the Labor government have gone back on that commitment they made during the election. In abandoning that commitment, Labor have shown Australians that they have no real plan to tackle cost-of-living expenses and inflationary pressures. And while talk might be cheap for Labor, it doesn't result in cheaper power bills for Australians.

And what have Labor been doing instead of developing this plan to tackle rising inflation and the rising cost of living? Photo opportunities with American basketballers and moving to abolish the ABCC to appease their union mates. The Prime Minister was asked by reporters only this morning what he would do to address the cost of living. He responded with some sort of vague response about introducing legislation aimed at medicine prices and child care at some point in the future. I don't think that response is in any way going to address the immediate pressure of cost of living and inflation that is being felt by Australians. Australians expect an answer to this problem now, today. They don't expect one into the future. They don't expect, 'Oh, we'll look at this problem down the track,' or 'We'll think about it in the October budget'. These are pressures that Australians are feeling here and now on this very day. It certainly seems like the government are just making it up as they go along.

Adding further pain today to Australians paying off their homes, interest rates have continued to rise with the additional financial burden being felt by those making mortgage repayments. As the minister, Senator Gallagher, updated the chamber part way through question time today, the cash rate has increased by 50 basis points to 2.35 per cent, which signifies five consecutive months of rate rises, with borrowers starting to feel the pressure as they pay off their mortgages. Part of the great Australian dream has always been home ownership, and these rising interest rates are only going to add to financial impediments on those Australians looking to own a home of their own, looking to make ends meet at a time where cost of living and inflation are only getting higher.

As Australia grappled with the detrimental effects of the pandemic, the previous coalition government absolutely were aware that we needed a solid and multipronged approach to assist with Australia's economic recovery. That's what we did in government. That is our record, and it's disappointing to see this sort of response from the Labor government.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That contribution by Senator Chandler has completely ignored the last nine years of her government. On 21 May the house of cards that was your government came tumbling down, exposed for what it was: a government of waste, rorts and lost opportunities—and quite frankly, that's being kind to their government; that's being kind to nine years of a Liberal coalition government. Don't forget, we had 'sports rorts', we had cuts to aged-care spending and of course we had cuts to real wages—boasted about by the government of the day; they boasted about the fact that it was a deliberate design in their economic plan. They did haven't a plan. What they had was a Prime Minister who was focused on delivering for their mates, focused on rorting public moneys to go into areas where they thought it would be best for a political return, not an economic plan to put this country on the right path.

The Albanese government understands that people are doing it tough. They also understand that, as Senator Gallagher said in her response to the question today, that we have inherited from the Liberal opposition a cost-of-living crisis. You can't ignore that fact. So, no matter what Senator Chandler wants to talk about in terms of the plan that her government had, everyone knows—the Australian people know; that's why they punted them on 21 May; that's why the former government are on that side, because the Australian people got sick of their money being wasted—that they had no plan, just waste, rorts and lost opportunities. So yes, we inherited a cost-of-living crisis from those opposite—an economy and a budget in complete shambles. That's what we inherited.

The Albanese government does understand that Australians are doing it tough and understands the current cost-of-living pressures that have been built up over many years. But we have acted quickly, and Senator Gallagher, in her response to the question, mentioned some of the initiatives that the Labor government is putting in place. So we do say—and we're very up-front about this—that we can't solve the nine years of neglect and decay overnight. But it's our task to do what we can do responsibly to help Australians deal with these pressures in the short term and build a more resilient economy that is better able to withstand future shocks.

That's why we are making child care cheaper through our $5 billion investment in the October budget, and that's why we're making medicines cheaper, and that's why we successfully argued for a minimum wage increase and why we're starting work to get wages moving again—unlike the now opposition, who boast about keeping wages low. I mean, it is the very issue that goes to the heart of the family household budget, and they come in here and try to say that it's all our fault! A trillion dollars of debt, an economy and a budget in shambles, a cost-of-living crisis that we inherited from them—the gall! We have argued successfully, as I've said, and our job is to start to get wages moving again.

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is very notable that in Senator Brown's contribution on this debate she almost exclusively spoke about the past. She almost exclusively spoke about, in her words, the last nine years. It was all looking back in the rear-view mirror, and there was almost nothing in her contribution seeking to defend this new government about the future. And it is the future that is concerning Australians right now, because Australians can see this cost-of-living crisis coming down the track towards them. It is already quite difficult for many Australian families as interest rates have gone up significantly over the past six months: five rate rises in a row, which is the fastest increase in interest rates since the mid-1990s. It's very, very difficult for Australian families. Petrol prices have obviously gone up significantly over the past year, due to the European energy crisis and the barbaric invasion of Ukraine by the Russian President. That's already hurting Australians, but, unfortunately, we can all see and know that perhaps the worst is yet to come.

Later this month, petrol prices are set to rise by 22 cents a litre when the former government's excise relief comes off. That's something we have to do. We cannot afford to neglect our roads, and fuel excises pay for that. So that will be an increased cost for Australian families. The RBA Governor today, in raising rates, indicated that more rate rises are probably set to come over the next year; it's probably not the end of this tightening cycle. So while many Australians are already facing increased mortgage payment payments of $1,000 a month, that will be even higher, potentially, over the next year. Finally, electricity bills are about to skyrocket. We don't have enough reliable energy in our market and the increases in wholesale power costs this year—they have gone up four or five times—have not flowed through to retail bills. That will happen later this year.

In this context, you'd think you would have this government focussed almost exclusively on this cost-of-living crisis. Instead, they are distracted. I kind of miss Mr Bill Shorten. Do you remember Mr Shorten used to talk about the top end of town? Well, this government is one that is constantly hobnobbing with the top end of town. At last week's Jobs and Skills Summit held here, almost everybody was either from big business or big unions. They certainly had no issue with paying their mortgages and no issue with paying even skyrocketing energy bills later this year. There was almost zero talk from the participants at that conference about the major issue that Australians are concerned about today.

The government cannot talk about its cost-of-living plan, because it's already dumped the plan it took to the Australian people less than six months ago. Less than six months ago Mr Anthony Albanese promised the Australian people multiple times he would slash their electricity bills by $275. He said it time and time again: your bills would be $275 a year lower under a Labor government. In a matter of weeks, he walked away from that promise. The new Prime Minister has not mentioned that figure again since the election. It must be a world record for a government breaking such a key promise so quickly to the Australian people. The government doesn't talk about the power bill plan. If you're looking for relief on electricity bills, don't ask this new government; they have no plan.

Now they rest back on their childcare plan. Senator Brown mentioned $5 billion. The Labor government never talks about or reveals that that $5 billion is predominantly going to very rich people in this country. Under the government's childcare plans, they are going to raise subsidies for families earning up to $530,000 a year. If you're earning half a million dollars a year, you are very lucky. You will be even luckier, thanks to a Labor government, because you're going to get more money from them. The education department modelled this. They showed that a family on 360 grand a year will be $11,000 a year better off. Thank you very much, Mr Albanese. If you're on $70,000 year, you're only $1,700 a year better off. That is an 85 per cent lower benefit for those families. These are the priorities of this new government. The Labor Party are no longer the party of the working class. They're no longer the party that look after the downtrodden in this society. They are wholly and exclusively focused on the Business Council of Australia and on the large unions that get big kickbacks from big super. They are focused on those interests and those interests alone. They do not listen to, and do not represent, those Australians who struggle in this country and are struggling more because of this cost-of-living crisis ignored by the government.

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Paterson for his questions without notice today on inflation and interest rates in this country and I thank Senator Gallagher for her answers as well. On these questions, it must be noted from the outset that the Albanese government has inherited an economy from those opposite with high and rising inflation. We have inherited an economy with rising interest rates as well. On top of that, we have inherited an economy with the slowest wages growth on record. In short, the Albanese government has come into office inheriting a full-blown cost-of-living crisis from those opposite.

One of the most important things that we need to do in the context of that crisis to help Australians get through it, to help Australians do well and to help Australians survive and thrive in this environment is to get wages moving in this country. We also need to deal directly with the rising cost of living. And we are already putting plans in place to do both. We need to get wages moving so that people have the resources that they need to deal with the rising cost of living, and we have hit the ground running to do just that. Right on winning government, we made a submission to the Fair Work Commission arguing for an increase in the minimum wage. Our submissions, along with the work of the Australian trade union movement, were successful, and there was a 5.2 per cent increase to the minimum wage. We also made submissions to the aged-care work value case, supporting a pay rise for some of Australia's lowest-paid workers—hundreds of thousands of workers—because we are committed to the women who work in the care economy and we are committed to getting wages moving in this country.

Last week we brought together 150 people from around the country in our absolutely historic Jobs and Skills Summit to answer the fundamental questions about the economy: How do we get wages moving? How do we improve productivity? How do we get the country moving in one direction together? There were a number of things about getting wages moving that were agreed by, really, everyone at the summit—except of course those opposite.

Everyone in our country agrees that we need to get wages moving, except the opposition. Everyone agrees that the bargaining system is broken, except, apparently, the opposition. Everyone agrees we should bring people together, we should bring unions and employers together, to focus on solutions—everyone, apparently, except the opposition and the opposition leader, who refused to turn up. Everyone agrees that women working in the care economy are the most in need of reform to our industrial relations system, except, apparently, the opposition.

We are focused on bringing people together. We are focused on the cost-of-living crisis. We are focused on getting wages moving to help people deal with that crisis, because getting wages moving is half the equation of dealing with the crisis delivered by the former government. That is exactly what we have hit the ground running doing and that is exactly what we will continue to do.

The second half of the equation is direct action to relieve the rising costs of living. We have just announced the biggest indexation of social security payments on record and that is going to help so many Australians deal with the rising cost of living that has been delivered by the previous government. We have also extended the paid pandemic leave that was due to expire under those opposite. We have introduced legislation to drive investment in cleaner and cheaper energy to put downward pressure on power prices. We, as Senator Canavan noticed, are going to make child care cheaper. We are dealing with the cost-of-living crisis bequeathed by the previous government.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the outset, speaking to my colleagues about Senator Paterson's question to the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher, I want to address a claim that was made by Senator Gallagher that potentially the Assistant Treasurer had been verballed. I had an opportunity during question time to refer to my mobile phone to see the Assistant Treasurer, in fact, on his own website, stephenjones.org.au—if people want to refer to it—said:

Because we actually—this might sound bizarre to many of your listeners—

I should say it sounds bizarre to me as a senator in this place.

but if we have demand galloping ahead and galloping ahead and people just putting up prices for a limited supply of goods and services, then that is going to feed into hyperinflation.

That is from Stephen Jones's own website, and my colleague Senator Paterson was accused of not quoting the Assistant Treasurer appropriately in the context of this question. This is important. Language is important because it feeds into the confidence or lack thereof in the market. Using the term 'hyperinflation' was extraordinarily irresponsible by the Assistant Treasurer, because when people think of hyperinflation, they think of Germany, where in July 1920 one mark equated to US$40. By November 1923, US$1 equated to four trillion marks. That's hyperinflation, and it is grossly irresponsible for the Assistant Treasurer to use that term 'hyperinflation' in the current market. We are nowhere near hyperinflation. I don't expect we will come anywhere near hyperinflation. The RBA certainly doesn't think so. Treasury doesn't think so. So why do we have an assistant Treasurer who doesn't know such a fundamental term of economics, 'hyperinflation'? The textbook definition of hyperinflation is inflation of at least 50 per cent per month. We are nowhere near that but we have an Assistant Treasurer who doesn't know the actual definition of hyperinflation. Maybe they should keep him away from radio interviews so he doesn't scare the horses of the Australian economy so much.

We also have a government that doesn't want to live up to the $275 cut to power prices. This is from the Labor Party's own policy, currently on their website. It is called Powering Australia. It's still there. It says:

It will cut power bills for families and businesses by $275 a year for homes by 2025, compared to today.

That is what it says. The policy is still on the Labor Party website. As my colleagues in this place have referred to consistently, that $275 cut in Australia's power price was referred to over 90 times during the course of the election campaign. But when Albanese government is formed, there was no mention of this promise to the Australian people, absolutely no mention of it. There was ample opportunity during question time for it to be referred to. But this promise given during the election campaign by the Australian Labor Party on their own website—you can check it out yourselves, a $275 a year cut—there was no mention of it by the Albanese government. Albanese opposition: $275 price cut. Albanese government: no mention. It is still on its website, if you want to verify it.

We then have the introduction of the Climate Change Bill 2022, an urgent bill introduced earlier today, even though, by the admission of their own minister, it's not necessary. How can something be urgent if it's not necessary? It baffles me. The Climate Change Bill 2022 doesn't make any mention of the $275 price cut. They introduced the Climate Change Bill, though their own minister said it's not necessary, and it then became urgent. One would have thought that it would connect electricity prices to climate change, but, no, there's no mention of the promise of the $275 price cut the Labor government made when they were in opposition.

Question agreed to.