Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the recent cost-of-living hearings that I and my colleague from this side of the chamber Senator Stewart participated in. We heard a lot, through those three days, of what Australians already know: inflationary pressures from external global factors and a decade of policy inaction are making household budgets tighter and placing pressure on people in this country who are struggling to afford the basics.

We heard about the effects of wage stagnation and the importance of the Labor government's plan to provide savings for households in the long run. We also heard from industry and the community about various aspects of the Albanese Labor government's policy agenda, which will provide a positive plan to reduce the cost of living. Our comprehensive and proactive policy approach on energy, on climate and on sustainability will reduce cost-of-living pressures, and it will ensure savings for Australian households.

The current cost-of-living crisis reveals the consequences not just of global factors but also of the former government's decade-long neglect of effective climate and energy policy, not to mention their failure on housing. The audacity to try and blame an eight-month-old government for a lack of housing supply is mind-boggling. Housing supply takes a lot longer than eight months. Australian families have been left to deal with this and the consequences of 22 failed energy policies by those opposite. The environment has also been left to suffer by the former government's failure to reduce emissions.

My colleagues and I on this side of the chamber will not leave Australian families behind. We will deliver an ambitious climate and energy policy, we will build the housing of the future and we will ensure that Australia is recognised as a world leader. Our plan will also facilitate a secure and resilient economy to ensure that Australian families are not left to deal with the consequences of this cost-of-living crisis into the future. We will have a plan that is transparent, that is clear and that supports those in need.

Our policy agenda—which includes the Climate Change Bill 2022, which was passed in this chamber last year—puts Australia back on track to net zero for 2050. What does that do? That opens up investment, gives us opportunities and gives us a way forward into the future so we're not left behind as a laggard on the international stage. Our plan also includes a $20 billion investment to upgrade and expand Australia's energy grid, unlocking new renewables, increasing the security of the grid and driving down power prices for Australian households.

I spoke to the Whyalla council this afternoon about the abundance of clean energy and hydrogen opportunities in that region and the significant interest that they are hearing from investors to build that region into a region for the future—to provide more jobs, to provide better, more available housing and to help them build their future in that region. But the opposition continues to oppose investments into renewables, despite the evidence from experts, such as Energy Consumers Australia, the Australian Energy Market Operator and the CSIRO, that renewables are the cheapest form of energy.

At the recent cost-of-living hearings, again, we heard from the Energy Consumers Australia policy director, Jacqueline Crawshaw, who highlighted the need for a balanced approach that addresses both clean energy and affordability. Yet we hear from those opposite that they want to invest in nuclear power, which is evidenced by CSIRO as the most expensive form of power. If we go to the most expensive form of power, we naturally go to the point where we say, 'That's got to be the most expensive when the costs are passed down to householders.' That is not a complicated pathway to follow. If you invest in the most expensive energy, you will get the most expensive power bills. If you invest in cheaper energy—in the energy that we know and that the evidence shows us is cheaper—you will get cheaper power bills. It's not that complicated. The abundance of jobs that we will get with these investments— (Time expired)

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This year will be tough for many, many Australian households. Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates for the ninth consecutive month, taking interest rates to their highest level since September 2012. The RBA has signalled that there's still more to come:

The board expects that further increases in interest rates will be needed over the months ahead to ensure that inflation returns to target …

Why does the RBA hold these expectations? That's because there is no economic plan in sight from the Albanese government to get inflation under control.

Just yesterday morning, the Treasurer said that it was the job of the RBA to get on top of this inflation challenge and that it was his job to do what he could to take some of the pressure off around the country for people who are doing it tough. That must have been news to the Minister for Finance, who said on Tuesday that dealing with inflation was in fact 'the defining economic challenge facing the country'. 'We have been very clear about that,' she said. It's alarming that no-one has told the Treasurer that his job is actually to do both. He needs to deliver an economic plan to deal with inflation and address the cost-of-living crisis. He's in government; he needs to act like it. The Treasurer is responsible for fiscal policy, and the RBA is responsible for monetary policy, but both are needed to ensure that we tackle inflation and keep the impact to a minimum. Right now, only the RBA is using its levers. Treasurer Chalmers thinks that it's alright to leave the RBA to do all of that heavy lifting, leaving Australian mortgage holders to bear the brunt of this Labor government's inaction on inflation.

At the Select Committee on Cost of Living last week, we heard that 800,000 mortgages will come off fixed rates in 2023. That's up to 800,000 households who will be feeling even more pressure on their budgets at the same time as they're dealing with higher grocery prices and higher energy prices. The main takeaway from those hearings was that higher prices and higher mortgages are leaving Australian families struggling to put food on the table.

Minister Tony Burke said on 15 June last year that people will see in their bank accounts what the change of government means. Well, he certainly was right, because Labor's cost-of-living crisis is very real. The Salvation Army said that one-third of people walking through their doors name the cost of living as why they need help. As a result of the increased demand from charities, Woolworths have increased their food donations by 20 per cent.

The Australian Energy Regulator revealed that there has been a 12 per cent increase in people struggling to pay their power bills. Australians are crying out for their government to help them with the impact of inflation, with rising interest rates and with rising energy prices. This is a government that was elected on the basis of promises around the cost of living for Australians, and on 97 occasions it promised a $275 reduction in electricity bills. Now no-one from Labor will even say the words 'two hundred and seventy-five dollars'. Last week the cost-of-living committee heard that it would be impossible for Labor to deliver on its $275 promise—not only that but that Australians will be paying higher electricity prices this year. On top of that, the Energy Regulator confirmed that prices would not just increase throughout this year, despite Labor's proposed response—their ham-fisted market intervention—but also discourage long-term investment, meaning less supply and even higher prices in the long term.

We need to have a government that's focused on managing fiscal policy so the Reserve Bank doesn't have to do all that heavy lifting. In January, the Prime Minister said, 'My new year's resolution is to continue to deal with cost-of-living pressures.' Well, Prime Minister, it's February, and you've failed. Nothing has been done. You haven't got an economic plan for the 800,000 households who will see higher mortgages. You haven't got an economic plan for the millions of families who will pay more to keep the lights on. You haven't got an economic plan for the Australians who are struggling to put food on the table tonight, because they can't afford it. But, worst of all, you've failed because you and your Treasurer are not doing your jobs. You're not doing your jobs to tackle inflation. You're not doing your jobs to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. You're leaving it to the RBA to do all the heavy lifting, to raise interest rates, and you are doing nothing about it. This is a blight on your government, and it's time to step up and do the right thing with fiscal policy, not just leave it to the RBA.