Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today.

In my contribution, I particularly want to take note of the answer given by Senator Watt to Senator Birmingham's question in relation to the cost of living. What we heard from Senator Watt was just a lot of words, really, and a lot of plans to have a plan. When asked what they were doing to address the cost of living, he said, 'We're taking action,' but there was actually no reference to anything they've done or anything specific that they're going to do that will tangibly deliver reduced cost-of-living pressure on Australians.

Now, we all know that out there in the real world, outside of this place, people are doing it tough. Interest rates have been going up. For the average mortgage holder, it's about $10,000 per year in increases in interest costs. You go to the shopping centres and not only will you see that, in many cases, the shelves are empty because there are supply chain issues; but costs have gone up significantly as well. It's impacting people's ability to make ends meet. It is becoming increasingly difficult just to get by in this country, and all we're getting from this government is words. There's no substance behind anything they're saying; it's just empty rhetoric. We heard that one of the ways that they're addressing cost of living is by decreasing the cost of child care. That's all well and good if you have a childcare place, but what we know is that the empty impact of the legislation that they were able to get through this place is that it doesn't deliver any new places. There's no, there's not a single new place becoming available. Now, we know that there is a significant shortage of childcare places. With know that there's a significant issue of workforce and there's nothing that this government is doing to address those issues. So how does an increase in a subsidy assist you if you can't even get access to a childcare place?

The point that I'm making here is that they're really good at putting together some words, but Australians are starting to figure it out. The government have had a bit of a honeymoon, and I get that; people have given them the benefit of the doubt, as good, sensible Australians will do. They will give them the benefit of the doubt. But, as the pressures are really mounting on household budgets, as the pressures are really mounting on individuals trying to make ends meet, they're starting to figure out that this government is all talk and very little action. And their action is often symbolic. Their action is often talking points rather than delivering policies that will deliver real outcomes.

One of the things that they said they would do before the election was to deliver a $275 decrease to the cost of electricity, yet they've walked miles from that. They brought in some policy just before Christmas, thinking it would be some big Christmas present—another empty delivery of a promise. We're not actually seeing electricity prices going down. They're saying they're not going to go up as much as they could have. That's not going down; that's maybe limiting it a little bit. You're playing around the edges.

Australians want to see a reduction in the cost of making ends meet, and it's getting more and more difficult. This government, week by week—and we've seen this week with their agenda that we're back to filling time when it comes to government business. We're back onto the address-in-reply to the Governor-General's speech because they don't have anything. They've done the talking and found that just talking is not enough. Just filling in words and having those nice announcements and nice talking points is not enough to actually address the issues that Australians are facing. They talked about real wages going up before the election. Guess what. They won't even mention the word 'real' any more, because we're not keeping up with inflation. Inflation is out of control, and the Reserve Bank has to take the measures they're taking because they see that this lot over here haven't got the capacity to deliver real outcomes.

Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, isn't this amusing? What has been happening in this chamber? I've been here since the election, you've all been here since the election and we've seen 60 bills go through this parliament. Let's mention a few of them: an increase in the minimum wage and pay rise to aged-care workers. Let's mention a few more of them. We turned around and made child care cheaper. We turned around and made changes to the workplace relations bill, which they, of course, opposed because that dealt with the cost of living. They don't want to see real workers get wage increases to deal with the pressures of the cost of living; they just want to make sure a very small, minute percentage of this community—at the very top end—are protected so that they can exploit Australian workers. They want to keep wages low; it's part of their policy that has been clearly stated for the last decade and previous decades.

They've kept the same mantra: not doing anything, like making wages bigger and giving people an opportunity for minimum wage increases and to negotiate better work arrangements to make sure wages do increase. Nor, also, for those things that build better wages and improve skills, a very important initiative. It's because there's been a dead hand put on skills development in this country by those opposite. That's what they did for a decade: lost apprenticeships, lost skills and lost capacity. They couldn't turn around and even support our universities during the biggest crisis this country and this world have seen in over 100 years. What did they do? They drained off the Australian community and we all paid the price as a community.

The 60 bills and these changes that we've made have made a difference, delivering the regional first home buyers guarantee—another important increase and improvement in arrangements. And there are cheaper medicines; these are fundamental things that support and give a basic chance to those who are struggling to deal with the cost-of-living pressures that exist in our community.

Dealing with and containing prices, like reducing the pressure on prices for electricity and gas, was something they voted against because they didn't like the idea that the market would get regulated. Actually, what they didn't like was that their mates were going to be regulated—the mates that turn around and support them were going to get regulated. That's the problem. They vote against workers' pay increases, they vote against the opportunity for workers to negotiate better arrangements with their employers across industries and they vote against containing electricity prices. What do they do? They vote against making sure that cost-of-living initiatives are put into this economy.

To hear their list of questions about fuel tax: these are the people who turned around and didn't even consult with the transport industry. It's six per cent of the Australian economy and plays a significant role in making sure that the Australian economy runs. Many in the industry are single-owner operators, small and medium-sized businesses. But those opposite turned around and got rid of the fuel tax credit system. As a result of that, the drivers were not able to get the fuel tax credit basis back as a result of the pricing put forward by clients within the industry. When they took their complaints and problems up to Frydenberg and Morrison at the time, there was no answer.

Of course, the industry players—the Transport Workers Union, which of course is the largest small-business road transport organisation and probably the largest small business organisation in this country by numbers; the Australian road transport organisation, an employer group representing small, medium and large operators; the National Road Freighters Association, a group of well-meaning owner-drivers who do largely long-distance work and of course, NatRoad, the national road transport association—all said quite clearly that what the previous government did was strangle road transport, and without consultation. No matter how they much pleaded with Frydenberg, Morrison and those opposite, there wasn't a voice lifted,

Nor was a voice lifted by Senator McKenzie in support of those people in this chamber. We raised it on a number of occasions and there was dead silence on the opposite side. They did not support the transport industry. That industry called out to the now government, the Albanese government, and asked for support. It said, 'We need this to be fixed,' and it was fixed. It was fixed! That's because we listened to what that industry was saying. That fuel tax credit system has been put back into place.

Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've only been here a short time, and something I've learned quickly is that governing is hard. Most of the people here come with great intentions; they're good people and they're here to make a better Australia. It's impossible to get everything right, but when the game's on the line champions want the ball.

This government has been in office for nine months. That's enough for people who overly celebrated Labor's win or for coalition supporters who sought solace in the arms of others, to be decorating nurseries or planning deliveries of something else. But we still get, 'Everything bad is by the previous government,' and that everything good is by them. You can't take credit for things if you don't take responsibility for things. We've heard that 60 bills have passed, but they haven't addressed the problems that face us now. It's a very narcissistic trait, to project faults upon others. It's a very narcissistic trait not to take ownership of your own situations.

We can stand here and say that wages are up, and they are. I'm not going to sit here and play points that they aren't. But real wages are not. That was a question we had today: 'How are people going, out there in the world?' As a group of people, I know we all have Australians' interests at heart and it's time for honesty on these things. What can we do about them? So we look here and watch where the actions aren't matching the intentions; they're not matching the words.

Our first question today was talking about data and security of the nation. We were talking about cameras. We were talking about these things. I woke up and saw this news article about Hikvision and Dahua devices out there. This is an interesting story. I then had a very personal self-reflection. About three weeks ago I had a number of Hikvision security cameras installed on my house, and I realise that Senator Paterson's story will cost me about $5,000 to rectify.

We heard how these cameras were installed under our watch and it's our problem. But that ignores the fact that in November last year the United Kingdom and the United States identified that this was a problem. They announced that this was a problem. They announced that these were being withdrawn from use within their government buildings. Surely, the government of the time should have seen that and said, 'Let's have a look at it in Australia.' 'Let's see what is going on here with that problem.' But we didn't. Governing is hard. There are millions of moving pieces. I've never seen a more complex thing in my life. That is the ownership champions take: 'I have seen this. This has happened. I will do something.'

Australians have been through too much. Since 2020 we have been locked down, we've been told what to put in our bodies, where to go, where not to go, everything like that. It is time for these people to have a life, to do things they enjoy, and for us to take the responsibility of having the ball, driving the game and winning the game for them. We shouldn't make them fear every little thing—everything about their wages, every bill, every mortgage payment, everything about climate change, the world's going to end, the Chinese are spying, my car's going to kill me. All of this as a parliament we are putting on them to scare them, to put fear in them, to manipulate them, and that is a thing that we should be taking on.

We talk about ownership. We had the question about the diesel fuel rebate today. I, for one, would like to thank the government for clearing that up and giving clarity that that will not be changed. There is no hatred or anger on these things. When good decisions are made they should be celebrated as much as pointing out the bad ones, because there are farmers out near Moree, up near Tamworth, who are planning on spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each—millions of dollars, in some cases—to plant crops. They will sit there and look at the cost of diesel, the cost of seed, the cost of fertiliser, the massive amount of money families will put out on a hope that it doesn't flood, that it doesn't drought, that it doesn't pesticide, that it doesn't mice plague. That is some certainty that you have given today, so thank you for that.

I also ask, on all these other points, on real wages, on security, if we are to be a government and a parliament that cares about our people, let us take that on, let us act with maturity and let us give the people a break they deserve.

Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My good friend over there, Senator Cadell—we started in the Senate together and did Senate school together—has made a very important point, which is that it is impossible to get everything right. You would imagine that people in government for almost a decade would at least get close to getting things right, but no. So that's the reason we're having this debate. It was very interesting to see the other side pretend to care when the question came up earlier about why the minister for the environment closed the Central Queensland coalmine. We're getting attacked for that as though we don't care about the environment, or, as Senator O'Sullivan pointed out, we're all talk but no action. But let me be clear. After a decade of no action promoting renewable energy, which the other side clearly failed miserably at, it's really interesting to see how they react when they see a responsible minister for the environment in Tanya Plibersek, who is taking action to close the mine.

This may be the first time that a decision like this has been made in 22 years. This decision was made on the premise of the mine having unacceptable impacts on the Great Barrier Reef, which is responsible for about $6 billion worth of economic activity every year and 64,000 jobs. We're talking about job security. We're talking about creating more jobs for Australians out there. There's Clive Palmer, who wants to challenge this decision. It is really shocking to know that those on the other side are questioning this or are quite confused about why the minister would make such an important decision.

I'm proud of being part of a government that puts priority on the environment, because, when we went to the election, we heard each and every person in Western Australia and across Australia tell us how important it is to save the environment, to prioritise it and to put it on the agenda as a matter of importance. At the end of the day, what are we fighting for here if we don't have a planet to live on?

For those on the other side, just for a piece of clarity, that was an export-only mine. It wouldn't be producing any coal for our energy grid. After attempting all those policies during their time—22 attempts, according to the record—there was a zero success rate. So they couldn't even land an energy policy. If they really cared about the energy policy, why did they vote against us when we went brought to this chamber the goal to reduce emissions by 2030 and have a reduction target of 43 per cent? Why didn't they support us?

In light of all this talk of being mature, responsible, open and transparent, that's what this Albanese Labor government has been indicating from the day we were elected. We're sick and tired of the delay, denial and destruction we've seen. Australians want to see action, and action is what they're seeing with this government. We need to bring to people's attention that the government's policies are very clear. We've been honest with the Australian people. We've indicated how much bad policies have impacted the time that we're in government now and all the mess that we need to clean up.

Aside from the emissions reduction target and ensuring that we have a clear path to net zero by 2050, we've also committed to the policies of $20 billion for Rewiring the Nation, $3 billion for the National Reconstruction Fund for renewables and low-emission technologies, stronger laws to protect the ozone layer and signing the Global Methane Pledge. These are things that are important to everyday Australians. If those opposite really care, they should talk their constituents and listen to them. Even if you are on the other side, you are still part of this parliament and you need to listen. Perhaps then you would get a clearer understanding of what they're trying to say to you.

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over eight months, Australians have seen that the Labor they voted for is not the Labor that is governing. We see continued efforts by Labor to deflect answers at question time. It doesn't want to answer the question. It doesn't want to take responsibility for anything that it has done. It clearly doesn't want to take responsibility for its broken promises.

Senator Birmingham asked a very legitimate question, given that during the lead-up to the election the then Opposition Leader and now Prime Minister made a promise that he wanted to see real wages continuing to increase. Australians have seen in eight short months that this is not going to happen, and there's now an admission by the government that it won't happen. It's just like the promise Labor made for the $275-a-year reduction in energy prices, which now will not pass the lips of any Labor member of parliament. That promise is gone. The empty and broken promises are now starting to pile up. In eight short months the broken promises are starting to pile up. I don't know how many times I heard Mr Albanese saying that he had a plan for the economy. It is becoming increasingly apparent that he has no plan for the economy, because every time something goes wrong, he says, 'We have to go out and talk to people.' He said he had a plan—there is no plan there to implement. There's absolutely no plan to implement.

As has been said earlier, cheaper child care is an important thing for the Australian economy, but not everyone has children and not everyone is reaping the benefit of that. But they are reaping the problem of increasing energy prices. I have to say, what we're looking forward to, what has been predicted out of the gas markets, for example—is a continuing increase in the price of gas. Because there will be less gas because of the intervention of the Labor Party. Only the Labor Party could spend a billion-and-a-half dollars to put gas prices up when they promised to bring them down. Only the Labor party could do that.

We're seeing the same things starting to emerge. It's the same old Labor: deflect the problem, use cute language, blame somebody else, blame the previous government, never take responsibility for anything that you've done yourself and, of course, when the questions get really hard descend into personal abuse. Start hurling abuse across the chamber. We see that so many times. How does that work in a post-Jenkins world in this place? It's not conducive to that sort of respect that the prime minister promised—a kinder parliament. Wasn't there a memo that went out? Was the Prime Minister the only one that got the memo? Did the other ministers in his government get the memo? They don't seem to be following it. Or is it just when someone's asking the Prime Minister a question that the memo applies? I reckon that's the case. Don't ask the Prime Minister any hard questions. Don't ask him about him keeping his promises: wages going up higher than inflation; cheaper power prices.

All we're seeing is the same old Labor. We all know—particularly those of us on this side—that Labor can't manage the economy. We've seen it time after time. We remember the pink batts. We remember the school halls. We remember the extraordinary spending that went on during the global financial crisis. We remember that Labor wanted us to spend $6 billion asking Australians to get vaccinated when all we had to do was to give them a good reason to get vaccinated—and they did, they turned out in their droves.

Here we have the same old Labor re-emerging, and it's mostly the same people from 2007-13. It's mostly the same people, and we're going to get the same results. We know that Labor can't handle the economy. They'll try to blame everybody else, they'll try to deflect, they'll try to abuse and they'll try to put it off on to someone else. But Labor we know. In 6,000 words we found out: they want to take economic policy back to the 1970s. They want to undo the reforms of Hawke and Keating that were so important in the last 30 years of economic prosperity in this country. It is the same old Labor. We shouldn't forget that. They won't keep their promises, they won't take responsibility for that and they won't own up.

Question agreed to.