Maria Kovacic (NSW, 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 today.

I was particularly interested in the questions in relation to the economy from Senator Birmingham to Senator Wong. The question Senator Birmingham asked was specifically around why this government can't manage inflation. Instead of actually getting an answer to that question, we got an answer around the tax cuts and around the energy relief. I think we need to stop and reflect for a little while. There is this $300 of energy relief over a 12-month period that every household gets, and we also have this scenario where we have the tax cuts that Senator Wong spoke of.

But let's just look at one element of what Australians are dealing with as a result of the current inflationary and cost-of-living crisis in this country: the average Australian home loan, which is $750,000. That is an additional $35,000 a year in mortgage repayments for those families. I'm really sorry, but a $300 energy rebate does nothing to dampen the impact of that. These are catastrophic conditions for many Australians, primarily for young Australians who have only purchased their first home in the last couple of years who have actually seen their expenses just blow out exponentially. That has turned what was meant to be their Australian dream into an Australian nightmare. We need to reflect on that and actually think about it. It's fundamentally unfair. We need to address the issues at hand, and those issues specifically point to this government's inability to manage that inflation, and it is a really important question that didn't get answered.

Something that also struck me in that answer was a comment that there are more homes in more parts of the country being built more quickly. I think I took that down accurately; that's my recollection of it. Now, that is inherently untrue. There are fewer homes being built. They are more expensive, and it's happening less across our country. So, the exact opposite of what was said in response to Senator Birmingham's question is the lived experience of Australians who are trying to get into a new home. The homes are not being built, and that is an absolute fact. In my state of New South Wales, the state Labor government's targets for new housing will not be met. That's a given. There's no    question about that. We know it won't happen. So, we absolutely know that more homes in more parts of the country are not being built.

Senator Paterson asked Senator Watt some questions in relation to Palestinian visas. I observed with interest that it was a very straightforward question from Senator Paterson: how many of the 2,922 Palestinians who have been granted a visa by the Albanese Labor government since October 7 have had their visa cancelled on character grounds? That is a very straightforward question that would have a numerical answer. So, either the minister knew the answer to that question and could provide it, or he didn't know and could take it on notice. Instead, for a full two minutes, we had a preamble and a discussion around background checks and visa criteria and pointing to the opposition and different things that they've done in government, when the answer was a simple statistic: how many? It's a number. A discussion wasn't required. A preamble wasn't required. A background as to the construction of different character grounds or character tests for visas wasn't required. So, that is quite a significant concern as well.

Finally, Senator Nampijinpa Price asked a question about the Regis goldmine—again, just asking whether the minister will seek out a meeting with a group to hear their concerns. And there could not be a simple answer of yes or no—again, there was a broader discussion about different things but no simple answer. Sadly, today's experience with questions without notice is very reflective of this government and its lack of transparency and the lack of willingness to answer questions directly.

Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let's just get a couple of facts on the record in response to that contribution. As a fellow New South Welshwoman, I have great respect for Senator Kovacic and the people who elected her, but I do sense some glee when she describes concerns about housing. I'm very concerned about housing and about people getting access to housing. But one thing they need to come to terms with and tell the truth about in this place is their permanent opposition—when they team up with the Greens to prevent the advance of legislation to support the delivery and development of housing. If anybody is getting in the way of the hope of getting a house among young people in New South Wales—and the not so young—and the people whose lives have fallen apart and who are starting again on their own later in life, it's not this government. It's the whingeing opposition and the chorus of Greens who support them in blocking the movement of this government towards the delivery of a vital need of Australians, which is housing. So let's just get that one on the record.

With regard to the visas, with all the hand-wringing that goes on, let's just be clear. It doesn't matter where you come from or what visa you are on. The reality in Australian law is that everyone who applies for an Australian visa is subject to the same security standards. There's no special deal for one group over another. The reality is that the same standards apply. Those standards are not set by anybody who's in here; they're set by the agencies. The same personnel are applying those same security standards without fear or favour to everyone from everywhere and continuing exactly what happened under the former government. So let's be clear about that in response to some of the nonsense that has been put forward by those opposite today.

But I dare say that most people who might be in a car somewhere, driving and listening to this reflection on what just happened in question time, will be much more interested in the things that Labor is actually doing to help them, their fellow Australians, their family, their friends and their workmates. Let's just go through a few of the things that Senator Wong put on the record once again. Unlike the opposition, the Liberal and National parties, who are almost dying for a recession to come on, we know that we want to support Australians, and that's why we are delighted to have seen and supported 2.6 million low-paid Australian workers getting their third pay rise. That's very different from those opposite, who said that low wages are a design feature of their economic policy. There is a huge difference in the vision of what's fair for Australians from those who sit on this side to those who would be the alternative government if they could get the votes together.

You want to be very careful about thinking about giving any consideration to the Liberal and National parties, who claim to be great economic managers. Let me tell you that they're after $315 billion. I wonder if they're going to cut the $315 billion from people who are getting support from this government with regard to Medicare. There are a million Australians, some of them your friends and some of them your family, who are on low incomes. They're earning, but nine per cent of taxpayers are on low incomes. They are continuing to be exempt from having to pay a Medicare levy charge under this government, or they pay it at a reduced levy rate, and that helps them with their cost of living. I tell you who it helps the most: it helps women, because 57 per cent of the beneficiaries who get that assistance so they don't have to pay that Medicare levy are Australian women. That's $640 million. Is that part of the $315 billion that they want to cut?

What about the energy rebates that 10 million Australians are going to get? The government is investing $3.5 billion to assist Australians in this time when there is a struggle. A $300 rebate is nothing, according to those who spoke this morning here. The reality is that we want to help 10 million Australians, not take away from them.

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

I'm going to accept the invitation from the Labor senator from New South Wales to put some facts on the table. Western Australians are beginning to write up their report card on Labor's first term in office, and it's not good. Savings accounts are shrinking. Average household savings ratios are just 0.9 per cent, a historical low. Mortgage repayments are increasing. A family with a $750,000 mortgage is now paying an extra $24,000 a year in mortgage repayments. Two years ago, Western Australian voters trusted Labor. Today, they are filled with disappointment, and that disappointment is turning to anger.

The Perth consumer price index in the last year rose by 4.6 per cent. Think about that. The Perth CPI rose by 4.6 per cent when the national average was 3.8 per cent. Why is it that Western Australians are paying a higher price for Labor's economic mismanagement than everyone else in the country? In the June quarter, the Perth CPI rose by 2.1 per cent—twice the national figure. Again, why are Western Australians paying a disproportionate and higher price for Labor 's mismanagement?

The latest RBA data provided to the Senate Economics Committee shows that the share of borrowers now facing 90-day arrears on their mortgage repayments has surged from 0.43 per cent in Western Australia to 0.62 per cent. That is a 44 per cent increase in the number of people facing 90-day arrears on their mortgage repayments in Western Australia. That figure is second only to Victoria. The same RBA data shows that every state and territory is now experiencing increases in the number of households in 90-day arrears on their mortgages.

This week, we had more bad news. That bad news is that Australian households are now fearing for their job security. Westpac's most recent consumer sentiment bulletin said:

The less confident outlook for the economy is also sparking fears about potential job loss. The … Unemployment Expectations Index rose 3.7% to 138.4 in September, up 11% since April and now materially above its long run average of 129.

Not so long ago, Australian families were saying to themselves: 'We don't like the cost-of-living pressures. We don't like the inflation challenge that the government chooses not to tackle, but we might just manage this because we've got job security.' Well, guess what? The safety of job security is no longer safe in the minds of many Western Australian households. People are fearing for their mortgages, fearing for the rising cost of living, fearing for the rising level of inflation, and now—according to Westpac's most recent consumer sentiment bulletin released this week—Australians and West Australians particularly are fearing for their jobs. They are now more fearful than they have been for a very long time about their job security.

That pain is also being felt by businesses—2024 is starting to feel very much like 2008. Last year, over a thousand businesses became insolvent in Western Australia. That is twice as many as there were at the peak of the GFC in 2008. Western Australians are feeling vulnerable, and they can't understand why Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Labor Treasurer Jim Chalmers are hurting Western Australian families when just over two years ago they put their trust in Labor. That trust has been broken. That disappointment is turning to anger, and Labor is on notice in Western Australia.

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I feel like the strong overarching theme for today's questions from the opposition is hypocrisy. I'll just go through a couple of examples about why that is. I feel like the really obvious one is that we campaigned pretty hard to enshrine a voice in Constitution for First Nations people. Those opposite campaigned relentlessly against it in a pretty ugly way, and then they come in here lecturing us about listening to First Nations people when they denied just that. It is absolutely laughable that they are trying to lecture us about listening to First Nations people when we campaigned on just that.

As someone who has worked with traditional owner groups to resolve conflicts in their groups and to repair relationships amongst family groups in traditional owner groups, I know firsthand the damage it does when politicians pick their favourites. That is exactly what's happening here. They are choosing to elevate the voices of some of the people that they think are more important in this place to get their political point across, and it's a disgrace because that will entrench generational conflict amongst families in New South Wales. That is what they are doing every time they get up and politicise this.

The other point I make is we've heard that the minister made a decision speaking to the same traditional owner group about a go-kart track. We've heard those opposite laugh about that, saying it's not comparable. I don't know about you but I don't think that the value of cultural heritage decreases because the size of the project is more valuable. That's not how it works. The size of the project does not make the cultural heritage less significant. It is still worthy of protection. That is exactly the decision the minister has made.

After Juukan Gorge, this side, the opposition and everyone in this parliament said, 'We can't allow things like that to happen again.' If we truly believe that we can't allow the destruction of cultural heritage in that way, then why wouldn't we be backing the decision of Minister Plibersek here? If those opposite have changed their position on how valuable cultural heritage is to our nation's identity and to First Nations people, they should come clean. We have an incredibly proud and rich history in this country that we should absolutely protect, and those opposite seem to be backflipping on that commitment.

Another point of hypocrisy that I want to draw to the attention of the chamber is that those opposite say they care about the cost of living and the burden being felt by Australians across the country, but that is absolutely opposite to the actions they take in this place when they vote against every single cost-of-living measure we bring to this parliament. Those of us on this side understand the pressures facing working families. We have taken decisive action to make sure Australians get the relief they need, and those opposite are showing they could not care less; despite what they say, their actions demonstrate otherwise. We're rolling out tax cuts for every taxpayer, not just some, and energy rebates for every household, and we're helping to make rents cheaper for nearly one million households. We're finalising the rollout of 60-day dispensing for additional medicines. We're indexing payments for people on JobSeeker, the aged pension, the disability support pension, the carers payment and the parenting payment as well as Commonwealth rent assistance.

We're doing all this in a responsible way that helps fight inflation—and those opposite have opposed all this. Those opposite want higher power prices, higher grocery prices, higher housing prices, higher taxes and lower wages; that is what their actions in this place have demonstrated. They've said they will cut $315 billion from the budget. That includes all the cost-of-living relief we've delivered. Where are these cuts coming from? Are they coming from our schools, roads, community services or social services? Those opposite need to own up to the Australian people.

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

One of the great traditions of politics in Australia is the scare campaign being run by the Labor Party. We witnessed that today in question time in response to the questions put by the coalition to Labor ministers. The scare campaign that we can see coming down through social media channels, free-to-air or, if you're old-fashioned, a newspaper is a $315 billion scare campaign that this so-called Labor government are going to run at the next election. They can't run on their record, because the record of the Labor Party in power shows a Labor Party who have failed to understand how the modern Australian economy works, how modern Australian businesses work and, indeed, how Australian workers work.

We have the worst of the worst in this Labor Party—a party that is so focused on its own future it forgets about how normal Australians are living their lives. When the Labor Party are in power, they are focused on the bubble that is Canberra. It's only the Labor Party who would promise to employ an extra 24,000 public servants at a cost of $36 billion—public servants who will be employed in Canberra—as a solution to Australia's economic concerns at the moment.

When you leave Canberra and you go to my home state of Queensland, I'll tell you what people are saying. They are not marching in the streets of Hughenden, Townsville or Cairns saying: 'What do we want? We want more public servants, and we want them now!' What they're saying is that they want a government that understands that the No. 1 issue impacting Australians is cost of living. But we've got a Labor Party government that has spent the last two years failing to address that issue. We've got a Labor Party that hadn't talked about the cost of living until a focus group that was being run by the general secretary of the Labor Party told them that cost of living is the No. 1 issue. Remember that this is the Labor Party who spent half a billion dollars on the divisive Voice referendum, rather than dealing with the cost-of-living issue.

When you look at the figures under Labor, gas is up 33 per cent and electricity is up 14 per cent, and that's even after the taxpayer subsidies that the federal Labor Party and, in Queensland, the failing and flailing state Labor government have sent out. Rents are up 16 per cent, health costs are up 11 per cent, education costs are up 11 per cent, food costs are up 12 per cent, and finance and insurance costs are up 17 per cent. That's a lot of statistics there, but what that says is that people outside of Canberra are doing it tough. But, when you listen to the Labor Party, they're like the Marie Antoinette of modern government—'Let them eat cake'—or Harold Macmillan—'You've never had it so good.' They are tone deaf to what is happening in Australia at the moment.

There's a reason why the Labor Party's polls are so low. They're lucky to have a 3 in front of their polling number, because the mob out there are angry. They're angry that they work hard. They're angry that their real wages have not gone up under this government. They're angry that the cost of living is going up, and they see a Labor Party who are not focused on the issues that they care about. Every day here in the Senate, we have a question time where Labor ministers thumb their noses not only at the accountability that is required of this institution but also at how Australians are doing it tough.

I say to the Labor Party: call an election. Bring it on now. Please bring on an election now, and you will see how angry those Australians are. There is going to be an election in Queensland in 44 days time. My party, at a state level in Queensland, does not have a great record at winning state elections, but I will bet London to a brick that Steven Miles is not going to be the Premier after the coming election. Labor are going to get smashed, particularly in regional Queensland. We saw that on Tuesday of this week when not one Labor member went out and spoke to those farmers and other people from regional Queensland. The mob are cranky, and they're going to come after the Labor Party.

Question agreed to.