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

A letter has been received from Senator Dean Smith:

Pursuant to standing order 75, I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion:

Mr Albanese promised Australians cheaper electricity, cheaper mortgages and better pay, yet Australians are facing a cost of living crisis fuelled by spiralling electricity, growing mortgage stress, a huge gulf in real wages and the cost of household essentials going up and up.

Is the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having ris en in their places—

With the concurrence of the Senate, the clerks will set the clock in line with the informal arrangements made by the whips.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This afternoon the coalition has initiated this discussion to hold Prime Minister Albanese accountable on his commitment or promise to Australians for cheap electricity prices, cheaper mortgages and better pay. There are two dates that the Labor government have erased from their collective memory. The first is 2 May 2022, when the Prime Minister, who was then the opposition leader, committed as part of his federal election campaign to providing a cheaper life for Australian families. He said that he had a real plan to keep mortgages cheaper and he had a real plan to keep cost-of-living pressures down. You don't hear anything anymore about that commitment of 2 May 2022. The second date that Labor have erased from their collective memory is the date in August 2022 when Labor committed to transparency, accountability and no more secrecy. That is the second date that Labor have erased from their collective memory. There will be more about the August commitment at another time in another debate.

Just yesterday Westpac said to the Australian community that things have never been so hard for Australian families. Westpac said that Australian families are now more worried about the state of their finances than at any other time in the last three decades. What did Bill Evans, the chief economist at Westpac, have to say? He was talking yesterday about the Westpac consumer sentiment survey and he said:

Since the survey began in 1974, the only comparable period of such sustained weakness was during the recession of the early 1990s when even weaker levels held for more than two years.

Mr Evans went on to talk about how the financial toll from high inflation, soaring interest rates and climbing rents crushed household spending in the three months to June. That sentiment expressed by Westpac, seen in their consumer sentiment survey, is exactly what we saw revealed last week in the details that were provided in the national accounts for this country. Things have got seriously bad and, unfortunately, they're going to get worse for many Australian families.

Just recently there was a glimmer of relief for Australian families when the RBA decided not to provide a 12th interest rate increase on mortgages. The cumulative effect of 11 interest rate rises—meaning the cash rate has now risen to 4.1 per cent—is hurting people and hurting Australian families. What did the governor of the RBA say when the RBA decided not to lift interest rates further on that occasion just recently? He painted a very bleak picture for the Australian economy and, therefore, for Australian families. The governor said in his statement:

… inflation is still too high and will remain so for some time yet. While goods price inflation has eased, the prices of many services are rising briskly.

' Briskly' was the governor's word. He went on to say:

Rent inflation is also elevated.

He went on to say:

The Australian economy is experiencing a period of below-trend growth and this is expected to continue for a while. High inflation is weighing on people's real incomes and household consumption growth is weak, as is dwelling investment.

If things couldn't be any worse for our country, what did he say about the prospect of rising unemployment? The governor said:

… the unemployment rate is expected to rise …

Imagine that. Australian families are having to find more in their household budgets to meet the cumulative effect of those 11 interest rate rises, and then some of them are facing the prospect of losing their jobs. This is what the commitment by the Labor opposition leader, now the Prime Minister, on 2 May 2022 to make life easier and cheaper for Australian families has delivered, and it's only going to get worse.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't know where those opposite have been for the last 14 or 15 months. Oh, that's right: they're in opposition. Therefore, they have no understanding of the reforms that the Labor government has introduced into this country to give a positive response to the cost-of-living crisis that we're in. They know the reasons why we've ended up here. We had 10 years of neglect from those opposite. This was the Liberal-National government who had a policy to drive down wages. That's what their policy was. At every opportunity to kick a worker, that's exactly what they did. They come in here now bleating with concern about those who are finding it tough. They're not genuine at all. Where were they when Qantas sacked thousands and thousands of workers? Where were they when they gave Qantas $2.7 billion and then allowed it to sack worker after worker after worker and outsource the other work?

Let's get on to the positive things the Albanese Labor government have done since we came into office. We have addressed energy bill relief. We have ensured that the price of energy has not skyrocketed as it had threatened to do. We've also done more for families. We have supported an increase to wages. We have increased child care. We have actually surpassed the 180,000 extra fee-free TAFE places that we promised to address the skills shortage that those opposite presided over for more than a decade, doing nothing except run TAFE colleges around this country into the ground.

This week, when there was an opportunity to support the Housing Australia Future Fund with $10 billion, what did those opposite do? What they always do. They are a 'no-alition'. That's who they are. They voted against it, because they really do not care about vulnerable people in our community. They think everyone has a privileged life, as the majority of them do. They have no idea how hard it is for a woman leaving domestic violence with her children and having no place to go. You're not going to leave that environment unless you have a safe place to land. You just won't do it. Why have we seen that the largest increase in the number of homeless people in this country is in the cohort of women aged 55 and above? Why is that happening? It hasn't just happened in the last 14 or 15 months. It clearly happened when those people on that side of the chamber were in government. But we are addressing that. We are providing social and affordable homes. We've finally seen the Greens come along and get in on the party. They have supported that legislation, and I say, 'Thank you very much.'

Those opposite did nothing to grow our manufacturing industry. We saw more industries going offshore on their watch. That's what we've seen. They didn't support cheaper child care. They didn't support fee-free TAFE. They didn't support renewable energy. They haven't supported the 60-day script, which is making medicines more affordable to ordinary everyday Australians, particularly those people who have chronic illness and have to have ongoing medication. They did nothing. When it was proposed to them when they were in government, they bent over for the Pharmacy Guild, because it was going to have an impact on pharmacies. Well, the Australian taxpayer dollar is not here to prop up businesses. What we are here to do is to make sure that Australians have access to affordable medicine. We've reduced the cost of medicine. We've now made it cheaper for people to have their scripts filled and enabled them to have fewer visits to their GP. We've opened urgent-care clinics. And I know, from the three that have already opened in Tasmania, the impact that's already having, so that people don't have to spend hours in accident and emergency.

But no: this motion put forward by Senator Smith—it just wants to eliminate. Those things haven't really happened, because when these people were in government it was Utopia. That's why the economy has tanked under them. That's why the wages of working Australians were suppressed, because that was their policy. They did nothing for social housing, and they did nothing at all for health. (Time expired)

Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I find it ironic that the Liberal Party has decided to bring on this matter of public importance mentioning the skyrocketing price of electricity, when they are the ones pushing for the United Nations net zero pipedream. It's ironic that they would mention growing mortgage stress. Their government was the one that printed over $500 billion out of thin air during the COVID mismanagement. That caused Australia's inflation problem. The Reserve Bank of Australia said they needed to raise rates to fight inflation by sending people with a mortgage broke. Supposedly they were trying to fix the inflation that the government caused—the gall, to mention real wages, which are forced down by the spiralling inflation problem, and suppressed by our unsustainable immigration intake.

Only today the Liberal Party was completely absent from a vote on my amendment to the Housing Australia Future Fund bill to acknowledge that our immigration problem is a problem for housing. It's the core problem driving skyrocketing house prices and rentals. Big business loves high immigration, because it keeps wages down. With a million more arrivals into the country fighting for the available jobs, no-one has to put wages up. On top of that, the government's inflation is stealing everyone's purchasing power. Australians are getting hit with a double whammy. If you want life to get better, unfortunately that won't happen if you vote for either Liberal or Labor. They're two wings of the same bird.

The core of all the problems is the price of electricity. The price of electricity is being artificially inflated by green United Nations net zero policies. Electricity prices affect every part of our lives, not just the power bill at the kitchen table. Without cheap power, manufacturers can't produce the products we want and need at a reasonable price, farmers can't afford to pump the water that irrigates crops and keeps cattle alive, and shops can't afford to keep the lights on and keep the doors open. So, you don't just pay the price of the UN climate net zero pipedream once, in your power bill; you pay for it again and again and again in every other bill as well.

Wind and solar cannot supply our baseload power needs. The more wind and solar that's put into the grid, the higher electricity prices go. This is a fact, and it's replicated in every country that has gone further down the United Nations net zero path than has our country. The proof is already here in Australia, too. With the highest amount of wind, solar and batteries ever on the grid, our electricity prices have never been higher, thanks to your policies If the wind and solar crowd isn't lying when they keep telling Australia that wind and solar is the cheapest form of energy—your electricity bills would be lower than ever, cheapest forever. They're lying, and we are all paying the price.

The elites of this country won't let us have a conversation on the actual solutions to these problems. Backroom party powerbrokers rule the major parties with an iron fist. Anyone who has an original thought, acts on it and steps out of line is kicked out of the party. It's actually against the Labor Party rules to cross the floor. No matter how much you morally disagree with something, if you vote with your conscience you can kiss your job goodbye. This is the rot that's corrupting our politics. We need to return this parliament to a house of states' representatives, people's representatives. That means you come here to actually represent and serve the people who elect you, not the party powerbrokers. Politicians should be warned: you've been able to get away with these dodgy deals for decades because of the apathy of the Australian people.

No more! Every day, thousands of Australians are waking up. More people than ever are watching exactly what you're doing in this chamber. They're not impressed. You might think you're clever in the way you dodge questions and in the political games you play—yes, Senator Simon Birmingham; yes, Senator Don Farrell: you think you're clever—but people see through it. Meanwhile, life is getting tougher for Australians. People won't take your hollow promises and empty performances any longer. The people of Australia are waking at last.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll agree with you on one point, Senator Roberts, and that is that the people of Australia are waking up to the cost-of-living crisis. In fact, they woke up a long time ago. They realise how hard it is now to pay their bills. They realise how hard it is to keep food on the table and to keep their kids going to the local sporting events, and that has been on this government's watch.

One of the things I've done very regularly in this place is stand up and counter the spin from that side on real wages. It goes on and on, and we heard it again today from Senator Polley. This is a government that's addicted to spin, particularly on this issue, so I'm going to put the facts on the record again—that is very important.

The last coalition period of government delivered real wage increases to Australian families. The Labor government under Anthony Albanese has delivered real wage decreases—real wage declines. Your take-home pay might be going up but your real buying power is going down. How can I prove this? How can I say this? It is published by the ABS every six months. This is on the record. The fact that those opposite keep saying what is a complete and utter untruth is reflective of them and of how much this Labor government is addicted to spin. For the sake of those listening and for the sake of the Hansard record, I am going to read out the real wage increases delivered under the coalition government: 0.2 per cent; than there was a slight decline, negative 0.7 per cent; then a one per cent real wage increase; 0.5 per cent; minus 0.1 per cent; 1.2 per cent plus; 0.7 per cent plus; negative 0.1 per cent; 0.4 plus; 0.6 plus; 0.5 plus; 1.5 plus; 1.4 plus; a 5.2 per cent real wage increase in the May 2020 six-month period; then positive 2.3 per cent in November 2020. And then—guess what—COVID struck. The impact of COVID struck and there were declines in real wages in the last short period of the coalition government.

By contrast, what has the Labor Party delivered in real wages? It has delivered minus 4 per cent; minus 4.1 per cent; and minus 2 per cent. Real wages are going down under this Labor government. Real wages increased in the last period of the coalition government. Don't believe the spin from those opposite. It is a complete mistruth, a complete rewriting of history. I challenge those opposite not to stand up again and say the mistruth, because they shouldn't do it. You should not stand up in this place knowing that what you're about to say is not true. The facts are clear. They're on the record; they're from the ABS. So unless you're going to stand up in here and say the ABS is lying, then you should not keep making this false claim about coalition governments not delivering real wage increases. Coalition governments do deliver real wage increases. Labor governments, or at least this Labor government, deliver declines in real wages. That's why this MPI by my friend and colleague Senator Dean Smith is so important. Holding governments to account is what oppositions do and holding this government, addicted to spin and to mistruths, is so important.

The coalition has proven that it can deliver for the people of Australia, particularly in terms of wages and in terms of ensuring that their standards of living are on the increase in a sustainable way over a long period of time. Real wage increases must be sustainable. Businesses cannot increase wages absent productivity improvements and absent improvements to their businesses' bottom lines.

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

I thank Senator Dean Smith for proposing this matter of public importance. As a fellow representative of the best state in the country, I know how important it is for the people of Western Australia that we stay focused on the real issues and pressures they face. We know that people are finding it tough right now, and the rising cost of living and inflation is felt around the country. However, when it comes to all the points raised by Senator Smith and Senator Brockman, there is clear action being taken by the Albanese Labor government to improve matters, while those opposite have opposed any positive action. Helping ease the pressure on Australians by tackling inflation and delivering targeted relief is our key priority. We are taking action to address the cost of living while those opposite want roadblocks, and the only contribution we hear from that side is no, no, no.

I will start with electricity prices. At the end of last year, parliament was recalled and passed measures to protect Australians from the worst surge in power prices. Our energy price relief is providing urgent energy bill relief. It is working as intended to take the sting out of power price rises when people need it most. But who opposed that? It was the exact people who now come in here and complain about rising electricity prices. If you had gotten your way, households would be paying hundreds more on their power bills without a cent of extra support. There is plenty that should be done to address electricity prices now and in the future and, despite the constant opposition to any change that will help Australians, we are getting on with the job.

The Albanese government is also taking action on housing. We've got in place short-, medium- and long-term plans to address the challenges we're facing. With the passing of the Housing Australia Future Fund here in the Senate, we are delivering the biggest investment in social and affordable housing in more than a decade. The $10 billion fund will create a secure and ongoing pipeline of funding for social and affordable rental housing, fulfilling the commitment the government made to the Australian people. We are working with the states and territories on this issue, and I'm really proud of what this government is doing to turn the tide, despite the many roadblocks raised by those opposite.

We also took to the election a commitment to get wages moving again, because, after a decade of stagnation, something had to change. We've always been proudly on the side of workers. Just this week, the West Australian reported that wages had increased by an average of $10 a day, the fastest increase in a decade. This hasn't happened accidentally. It has been a deliberate design feature of our economic plan, which is helping to put more money in workers' pockets.

I know that Senator Brockman won't agree with me, but you've got to admit that it has been the fastest wage increase in a decade, something that you couldn't deliver. Strong, sustainable wage growth is part of the solution to the challenges in our economy. I know it's hard to believe that we're responsible economic managers. That's not the problem, as those opposite like to argue. From advocating for an increase in the minimum wage to funding a 15 per cent wage rise for aged-care workers and changing our industrial relations laws to support secure jobs and better pay, we are serious about getting wages moving. I hope Senator Smith, along with his colleagues, can consider these facts and, instead of trying to point the finger at us, accept the fact that the coalition deliberately kept wages stagnant for a decade.

This government is laser focused on easing the pressure on families. Where we can, we have delivered relief, which you have opposed at every step of the way. We delivered cheaper child care. We delivered cheaper medicines and we have just made them even cheaper through 60-day dispensing, a measure you still can't support. We tripled the bulk-billing incentives to support 11.6 million eligible Australians, including children, pensioners and other concession holders. We are delivering fee-free TAFE and more university places. We're expanding paid parental leave and increasing flexibility. The list goes on. But you know what? We know that there is so much work to do to continue easing the pressure on Australians, and we're getting on with the job

Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would suggest that the government begins doing that work. I rise to speak on the matter of public importance before us, and I thank Senator Smith for submitting the MPI, because I know that cost of living and the current crisis is certainly important to the Australian people. I know this from speaking to families and small businesses across my state of New South Wales. This is the No. 1 thing they are talking about, particularly in Western Sydney. I have been hearing about the different challenges that individuals, families and businesses are going through. They are struggling. They are struggling because of the burden imposed on them by this Albanese Labor government.

The Australian people were sold a great dream at the last election. They were told they would see cheaper power prices, cheaper mortgages and better pay. But what have we seen? We have seen higher power prices and higher mortgage repayments, and the average worker's real pay packet is no better off. People can't afford to fill their cars with petrol. People worry when their electricity and gas bills come in and wonder how they are going to be able to pay them. Households and small businesses are literally turning off the lights. People now have to make more choices about what they can put in their trolley and what they can't. People are struggling to make ends meet as mortgage repayments have pretty much doubled over the last 15 months, and we have seen rents increase as well. More Australians than ever before taking on a second or third job just to make ends meet.

This is a far cry from what the Labor Party promised at the last election. This government is focusing on the wrong things at the wrong time. Those actions—and inactions—are making this cost-of-living crisis even worse. We have seen the absolute shambles that is the Qatar decision. No-one knows who said what to who and when. There are questions about what involvement Qatar's competitor Qantas had on a government decision. But how this impacts Australian families is that their government has denied them cheaper airfares and greater choice in the market—not just for international flights but with the flow-on effect for domestic flights as well. Competition and choice pushes down prices. That's high school economics. But this transport minister and the government don't seem to understand that. Instead, this government is focused not on the national interest but on the vested interest.

We have seen this time and time again from Labor governments. They promise the world, and then they don't deliver. Recently we have seen in the June quarter accounts that Australia is actually in a per capita recession. The only thing propping up the economy now is record levels of population growth. Productivity is in freefall, with another annual fall of minus three per cent. That is a fall of three per cent. Australians with a mortgage are paying double the amount of interest compared to a year ago—double. The household savings ratio has fallen to its lowest level since March 2008.

Challenges on the global horizon are not an excuse for a lack of an economic growth agenda today. This government seems to have an excuse for everything but is unable to take responsibility for what is happening. Australians are paying a high price for a Labor government. We need to address these issues as a matter of urgency. We need this government to act in this cost-of-living crisis and in the inflationary crisis that accompanies it. The Albanese government needs to stop acting in the vested interest and start acting in the national interest. Australians are feeling great pain and they are significantly worse off under Labor.