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

A letter has been received from Senator Hume:

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

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

With core inflation higher in Australia than United States Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada, and the RBA forecasting inflation will remain above the band for almost a year longer than they had in December, and months longer than what they predicted immediately prior to Labor's Budget in May, Labor has no plan to bring down inflation and reduce the cost of living for all Australians.

Is the proposal supported?

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

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

Who said this, 'My New Year's resolution is just to continue to deal with cost-of-living pressures.'? That was what the Prime Minister told Australians back in January. Since then, we have had five interest rate rises from the RBA and a total of 12 since this government was elected. The reason behind these interest rate hikes is because Labor has no plan to tackle inflation. Inflation remains far too high, far too sticky and it is not coming off.

The latest data from the September quarter reveals that inflation is stubbornly high, standing at 5.4 per cent for year on year—

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Your economic mess!

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

Senator Farrell, please don't show your economic ignorance in here. The Treasurer will tell you that this is all to do with international factors.

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

On a point of order—

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

Senator Polley, to be fair, Senator Farrell was encouraging Senator Hume, so there's no point of order.

There's no point of order.

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

Acting Deputy President, please tell Senator Farrell not to demonstrate his economic ignorance in this chamber. The latest data for the September quarter reveals that inflation is stubbornly high, and the Treasurer will tell you that this is because of international factors. He'll tell you that it's everybody's fault other than his own. He even said recently, 'We've got a very unpredictable, volatile global economy,' and he spoke of what they had been able to do in the year since that first budget. Yet in April last year, he said: 'This government has an excuse for everything and a plan for nothing. They want to talk about international comparisons'—wait for this!—'but Australians couldn't give a stuff what inflation is in the United States.' That's the standard that the Treasurer has set for himself, and it's a standard that he is clearly failing. Core inflation—the key measure of underlying price pressures—is now at 5.2 per cent. That's higher than in Germany. It is higher than in the United States. It is higher than in France, Italy, Japan and Canada. That data simply confirms what every Australian family is feeling: the cost of everything is going up.

This decision by the RBA today to increase rates by 25 basis points has taken the cash rate to its highest level since 2011. That's a heavy blow to Australian families, especially those who were already facing financial difficulties. Because of the inaction of this government and its failure to tackle inflation head-on, a family with a $750,000 mortgage is now paying nearly $24,000 a year more than they were a year ago. Every time interest rates go up, we see an unfortunate increase in the number of Australians who turn to hardship payments for their energy bills or seek assistance from charities, particularly those that help put food on the table. This isn't just a statistic; it's a reflection of the real impact on people's lives. It's a consequence of a government that, for the past year and a half, has had the wrong priorities. It lacks a clear plan to tackle inflation. It lacks a plan to reduce the cost of living for ordinary Australians by tackling the causes, not the symptoms. The government has focused on everything except a plan to tackle inflation and get it under control. While the RBA has had to do all it can to try and cool the economy, Labor has added $188 billion of new spending, further fuelling inflation. It has added a tax on truckies and a tax on farmers, both of which add to the costs that Australians are paying at the supermarket. The RBA has its foot on the brake, but Labor is pumping the accelerator.

Today the RBA confirmed that the result of the government's irresponsible failure to come up with a plan for inflation is higher interest rates. The governor said, 'The risk of inflation remaining higher for longer has increased'—not decreased but increased—'and it's the everyday Australians that are shouldering the financial burden.' Under Labor in the last 15 months, the cost of food has gone up by 8.2 per cent. The cost of housing has gone up by 10.4 per cent. The cost of electricity—which they promised they would reduce—has gone up by 18.2 per cent. The cost of gas has gone up by 28 per cent. Australia's inflation is now higher than that of most advanced economies. This is Labor's cost-of-living crisis. Rising interest rates caused by Labor's failure to deliver a plan to fight inflation is having a cascading effect across the economy, on businesses—particularly small businesses that struggle to access affordable credit to grow and employ more people—and on Australian families, who are suffering the consequences of Labor's inaction. It is crucial that Labor realign their priorities and policies and come up with a plan to tackle inflation, or it's going to be ordinary Australian families that continue to pay the price.

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

Again we hear, on a second occasion in one day, the people who gave us a trillion dollars in debt—

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

How much?

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

A trillion dollars in debt, Senator Polley. They are saying that these are the answers—sorry, they're not saying what the answers to the cost-of-living crisis are, because there are cost-of-living problems. There are challenges for everyone's hip pocket, and we as a country, as a government, as a Senate and as a parliament have to make sure that we take those pressures off. We have to strive to make sure that this is done in a sensible and economically sound way but also in a way that makes a real difference for hardworking Australians—for all Australians out there who are striving in these difficult times.

So what have we done? We've invested $23 billion to deal with cost-of-living pressures. There is an incredibly important 10-point plan that we've implemented—a plan that's gone through everything from investing in energy bill relief to cheaper medicines, cheaper child care, increased rent assistance and building more affordable homes. These are critical steps in making sure that we take the burden off our broad community. Another is fee-free TAFE.

Of course, on every one of those things that we've been doing and many others on those cost-of-living pressures—from the first and second ones right through to the 10th—those opposite have opposed it. They've said to the Australian public and the Australian people: 'We're going to abandon you. We are not going to support you through these cost-of-living challenges that we have right across the community right now.' Of course, when it comes to policies to make sure that we help the most needy but also bring people together to get productivity up—such as fee-free TAFE, child care and early childhood education—they opposed them.

When you start talking about some of the instruments to make sure that there is more effective bargaining so that wages can rise, what do they do? The Liberal and National parties are for low wages. They aren't for better business, they aren't for better rights, they aren't for better wages and they certainly aren't for better productivity, because they're opposed to fee-free TAFE, which unleashes the opportunity to have more apprentices and tradespeople out there in the community. What they've done is to oppose every arrangement to make sure that people have an opportunity to deal with the cost-of-living pressures, whether it's the 10 point plan, on which they opposed every issue, or important initiatives on the employment front.

As for the secure jobs, better pay act that the government passed at the end of last year, they opposed it. What did they oppose? They opposed the fact that employers can get together with their workforce across industries to have commonality and come up with arrangements based on productivity, efficiency and better wages. They opposed that, because heaven forbid! Would you want to see workers, companies and industries come together and try to work out solutions? What a horrific idea! Of course you do, because any sane, good employer wants that.

What the opposition are about is going to the lowest ebb every time. They want to go to the bad employers, the ones that are striving to bring unregulated gig work into arrangements where people don't have minimum rights. They want to make sure the big end of town are looked after, such as the mining industry. As for same job, same pay, they want to oppose that. They want to make sure that companies like Qantas can continue to create the Joyce effect that's starting to roll across the economy. They're supporting Alan Joyce, Richard Goyder and their like and then turning around and saying that the policies that have been implemented so that the workforce can deal with the cost-of-living pressures are something that they're not prepared to do.

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

Senator Hughes?

Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, with less than a minute to go, is there any stage at all, do we think—

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

What's the point of order?

Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Direct relevance: might Senator Sheldon actually address the issue of inflation?

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

There's no point of order.

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

Of course, they don't want to hear the reality of what they're not doing about cost of living, because it's a painful point. It's a painful point when they opposed bill after bill after bill. They opposed worker right after worker right after worker right. They opposed every suggestion from good employers about how to get the economy working together. They oppose it because they always go for the big end of town to make sure that, as far as they're concerned, they're looked after instead of the rest of the community and good employers who want to work together to make this country more productive, more efficient and fairer, with better business, better wages and better rights. Those are things they just can't stand.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Neoliberalism is built on conning people and basically lying to people about what's possible, what's not possible, what has to happen and what can't happen. One of the great lies of neoliberalism is that the Reserve Bank of Australia is an independent body. We hear it from the media, the opposition, the commentariat and the government—and, boy, did we hear it on high repeat from Treasurer Jim Chalmers today at his press conference. It's funny how we hear it more and more from the agents of neoliberalism, like Mr Chalmers, on days when the RBA jacks up interest rates, as it did today.

A simple perusal of the Reserve Bank Act—in particular section 11 of that act—makes it clear that the government has the power to override the Reserve Bank when it puts up interest rates. The problem that we've got is not that the power to override the RBA doesn't exist but that the agents of neoliberalism, including Mr Chalmers today, are too gutless to use it. Not only is Mr Chalmers too gutless to use that power; he wants to give it away. And the Liberals and Nationals are going to support him to give that power away. Colleagues, in a democracy the buck should stop with elected representatives, not unelected technocrats like the board of the RBA—the high priests of neoliberalism in this country. Today's interest rate rises are Labor's interest rate rises because Mr Chalmers has the power to override the RBA but he's too gutless to use it.

Today's RBA decision is a terrible decision that will cause massive hardship to renters and mortgage holders across the country, and push millions of Australians further into poverty and economic hardship. It is beyond belief that the RBA would raise rates even though, as they said in their statement today, they acknowledge that inflation has peaked and is coming down. It also beggars belief that Treasurer Jim Chalmers would sit on his hands and allow that to happen.

Average Australians did not cause this inflation crisis and they shouldn't be punished to solve it. Inflation figures are being driven by things that are out of the control of the RBA and the Australian government, like petrol prices internationally, as well as things that are within the control of the Australian government, like corporate price gouging. Labor has got to step in.

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

I commend Senator Hume for bringing this matter before the Senate right now because it is a very important issue. There is no bigger or more important issue than what Australians are facing right now, which is the rising cost of living.

I would, however, point out that, while the government have no plan to bring down inflation, they are doing something even more reckless than that. Their policies are actually driving higher inflation. We don't need any more reminders that we are facing rampant inflation caused by the government's decisions than we've seen today, with the RBA's decision to increase interest rates by another 0.25 per cent. The government are very fond of blaming everyone else but themselves for high inflation. They should look in the mirror and see that they are, in fact, the ones who are responsible.

The impact of inflation is not just arbitrary. Its effect is uneven and it's being felt by everyone across the economy, from families to businesses. Even worse, inflation's pernicious impacts are felt daily because families never feel that they're able to get ahead with their household budget. And, boy, are families feeling that right now. This further increase to mortgages today is impacting Australians terribly, and we are seeing that impact.

Any MP or senator who spends time in their community will know exactly what I'm talking about. Any wage increase that people gain evaporates instantly at the fuel pump or the supermarket checkout. Cost of living is the biggest issue that this country is facing, yet we're not seeing the government step up to the plate and deal with it.

When I go through the electorates of Tangney and Burt, which are close to my home, people tell me they are struggling to get by. And it's not just in the mortgage belt areas, the newer parts of those electorates, or the outer suburbs; it's even close to town, where people would be more affluent. People across the board are feeling it, and this government is not doing anything to deal with it.

At last month's meeting the RBA made this observation:

Real household disposable incomes had declined by 3 per cent over the preceding year, as strong growth in nominal aggregate labour income had been more than offset by high inflation and rising tax and net interest payments. This had resulted in a period of weak growth in household consumption, including a decline in per capita terms.

Yet the Treasurer keeps saying that there is nothing to see here and nothing that he can do to get inflation under control. It's all Russia's fault. It's because of the rising cost of fuel that's impacting upon Australians. The government can do something about it. They can't just shift the blame. The government can control aggregate demand, which is adding fuel to the inflation fire, by cutting fiscal spending. They can do that. They can get more money from people's pay packets into their pockets by bringing in tax cuts.

If the government doesn't tame inflation, it will become sticky and persist for longer. As the RBA said in its decision today:

… if high inflation were to become entrenched in people's expectations, it would be much more costly to reduce later, involving even higher interest rates and a larger rise in unemployment.

The RBA has already indicated that inflation won't be back to the two to three per cent target band until late 2025. What does this mean for Australians? Are we going to continue to experience high rates of inflation because the government are not taking action to reduce the pressures upon the economy that are driving up inflation? They're putting fuel on the fire by bringing in things like the industrial relations reform, the so-called closing loopholes bill. All that is going to achieve is greater reliance on and influence of unions in our workplaces. It will decrease productivity in the workplace, which of course we know will add further fuel to the inflation fire that this government is not taking control of.

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

I am delighted to make a contribution to this debate. If you listened to the contributions from senators on the other side of the chamber, you will have heard them rewrite history. And if you listened to Senator McKim's contribution you will understand why the Greens will never have to be accountable. They'll never be a government of the day to deliver anything—and thank goodness. What I want to put on the public record is this: 'The IMF concludes that fiscal policy and monetary policy are working together to address inflationary pressures.' That's what they've said about the Albanese Labor government.

We know that inflation is a big issue in the cost of living. But every time those on the other side have had the opportunity to support legislation to help Australians deal with the cost of living, what have they done? They've voted against that legislation. Of course we want inflation to come down. Of course we want interest rates to come down. That's why we're doing what we can, taking responsibility as a government, to help Australians get through this crisis. We've invested $23 billion in cost-of-living relief, and that's actually working. If you went out and talked to everyday Australians, Mr Acting Deputy President, you would understand that that $23 billion in electricity bill relief has meant something to people. Cheaper child care is having a huge impact in my home state of Tasmania. We've increased rental assistance—the biggest increase for 30 years. Hello, senators over there. What did you do when you were in government? You did zilch when it came to rental assistance.

We have done more in terms of reducing the cost of medicines. We brought in the 60-day prescription. The former government in 2018 had the same proposition put to them, but they weren't prepared to do it. We've done it because we know that it's going to help those people who rely on regular medication and reduce their costs. It will also reduce the impact on GPs; the people won't have to run to see their GP as often to get their regular medication.

We've invested in fee-free TAFE. What did they do over the 10 years that they were in government? This is not blaming them. This is about putting on the public record the reality, and that is that you ran TAFE into the ground. You did not invest in any training or skills in this country. You allowed company after company to leave this country and go overseas. That's what you oversaw. You oversaw the car industry folding. That's what you did when you were in government.

We have invested into the housing crisis in this country. What did they do with the $10 billion Future Fund? How did they go about supporting that legislation? They didn't; they voted against it time and time again, because, quite frankly, they do not care about people who are doing it tough in this country. They don't care about providing affordable and social housing for the most disadvantaged people in this community.

We had a senator come into this chamber today, saying: 'Woe is me. We should not be demanding that we have 24/7 nurses in aged care.' They were in government for 10 years and they ran aged care in this country into the ground. That's what they did year after year. And what did Mr Dutton do when he was Minister for Health? He took a billion dollars out of the health budget. The reality is—

Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Point of order: direct relevance. This is just getting embarrassing. She's talking about the Future Fund, which we established, and said we voted against—

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

You mean Senator Polley.

Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Polley. We're talking about inflation, not any of the other rubbish you've been verbal diarrhoeaing us with. If you could perhaps return to the topic, it would be helpful.

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

Thank you, Senator Hughes. Senator Polley, please resume.

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

I have been talking about inflation, but I also want to talk about the things that are helping families. You don't like to hear the truth. In terms of creating jobs and moving wages along, we had to rely on the Labor government to do that, because your policy in government was to keep wages down. We've expanded parental leave to support parents—in particular, supporting women coming back into the workforce. Now, we know the Liberals have a lot of problems attracting women to run for parliament. They have even more trouble getting women to vote for them, because of Mr Morrison and Mr Dutton. You can come in here and try to rewrite history, but the Australian people remember. They remember what this country was like under the Morrison government, under the Abbott government. They remember what it was like under the Turnbull government. The reality is they voted for Labor.

We've delivering. We will bring down inflation. We are there to help the Australian people. They can count on us, and I'm very proud of that.

Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's Melbourne Cup day today, and what a great day it is: 'the race that stops the nation'. But forget that; today we had 'the rate that stopped the nation'. What did the RBA do? They pulled the rate rise lever once again, for the 12th time since the Labor Party was elected. The Albanese government came to office promising they had a plan to lower the cost of living, a plan to lower the cost of power, a plan to lower interest rates, a plan to lower our power bills by how much? It was $275.

After 18 months in office, the only thing they have managed to lower is their polling numbers. The price of electricity is up. The price of groceries is up. The price of fuel is up. Immigration levels are up. Interest rates are up. The cost of housing is up. Rents are up. There is one thing that's down: the Prime Minister's approval rating. It will continue to go down because people are coming to their senses. They honeymoon is coming to an end—finally. People have realised that Labor just cannot manage the economy.

Heck, if they were a runner in the Melbourne Cup, they wouldn't have finished and they'd already be on the way to the glue factory. That's where they'd be—the glue factory.

This government came to power promising a plan to make the country a better place, a plan to improve everyone's situation. But, unfortunately, we're all worse off. I would love for the Prime Minister to explain what he proposes to do to address the costs of living in this country. Prime Minister, what is your plan? Perhaps, the Prime Minister could tell us the next time he decides to visit and stay in Australia.

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

Very noteworthy, Senator Babet, thank you very much. Senator McGrath.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This afternoon we heard the rather sad but unsurprising news that the Reserve Bank has had to increase interest rates on Australian families for the 12th time. That is the 12th time since the Albanese Labor government came to power. This would have to be some kind of record but not a very good one. Do you know how many times the Reserve Bank increased interest rates under Scott Morrison and the former coalition government? Just once. The Reserve Bank met 96 times when the former coalition government was in power, and interest rates went up once. In the first 18 months of this Albanese government, the Reserve Bank has met 17 times, and interest rates have been increased on 12 of those occasions. Indeed, you could say that, under Labor, interest rates are 12 times more likely to go up than they are under the coalition. The last time interest rates were this high was during the last Labor government, in the middle of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd saga of 2011, when interest rates were, again—you guessed it!—out of control.

The Labor Party have demonstrated time and time again that they have a complete inability to manage their economy, and Australians are hurting because of it. In the last 15 months, the costs of your average Australian family's bills have gone up 7.3 per cent. Housing costs have gone up 10.4 per cent. The cost of electricity is up 18.2 per cent. The cost of food is up 8.2 per cent. The cost of gas is up a staggering 28 per cent. The cost of insurance is up 17.3 per cent. These aren't just statistics. These aren't just figures. These are the bills that Australian families are struggling to pay at the moment. The Labor Party go around parading that wages have increased by 3.6 per cent. Well, I've got news for the Labor Party. It doesn't matter if wages have gone up 3.6 per cent if the cost of everything is increasing twice as fast. And it is only going to get worse. The Labor government have had this year to try and get prices under control. This was Australia's opportunity to act. This was Australia's opportunity to help Australian families. But Labor has failed. Now we are witnessing growing conflict in the Middle East. We are witnessing major advanced economies start to shift closer to recessions. We are witnessing China approaching its slowest rate of economic growth since the fall of the Berlin Wall. We are witnessing an evermore unstable global environment, and Australian prices are going to go higher because this Labor government has not been able to get them under control.

In the last three months, housing has gone up 2.2 per cent, transport has gone up 3.2 per cent, and communication costs have gone up 2.2 per cent. But there is hope. The government can act to get inflation under control, but only if it has the political will. This inflation is not coming from Ukraine. It's not coming from Washington. It's not coming from the Middle East. It is coming from Canberra—plain and simple. This government can act. The government can allow domestic airline competition to reduce transportation costs. The government can work with states and territories to free up more land for housing development. The government can reduce the $188 billion in additional spending it has committed since elected. The government can stand up to the unions and tell them that they are taking industrial relations back to the 1970s and that it may not be the best idea in a cost-of-living crisis. But will they? All the evidence appears to the contrary.

We can fight inflation in this country, but only with a coalition government, because this Labor government has shown time and time again it just doesn't have the ticker for it. What we've seen over the last few months has been a Labor government focused on the politics of division, focused on a $450 million referendum and focused on spending money to help Canberra, rather than talking about costs of living.

I challenge the journalists in this building to research how many times Labor ministers said 'cost of living' before 14 October. I guarantee that it will yield a nil search.

That is the issue with this government: they're driven by focus groups and they're driven by polling. They have lost the referendum and now they're having a panic about what Australian people care about. I can tell them this, and anybody on this side can tell them this: the No. 1 issue in Australia for the last year has been the cost of living, and it has not been helped by this Labor government. They are making the cost-of-living crisis worse because they are not getting inflation under control.

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

The time for the discussion has expired.