Andrew McLachlan (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A letter has been received from Senator Kovacic:

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

After three Albanese Labor budgets, most Australians will go into Christmas and 2025 worse off, with weaker real household incomes and struggling through a record-breaking household recession.

Is the proposal supported?

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

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

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

As we approach Christmas, Australians should be looking forward to a season of joy, celebration and togetherness, yet, under the Albanese Labor government, the reality for many is far from festive. Families are grappling with how to afford what can only be described as a cost-of-living Christmas, as the weight of this crisis bites deeper than ever. Australia is now enduring the longest per capita recession since records began. Six consecutive quarters of negative GDP per capita growth have left households struggling. Let me remind those opposite that, while they may dispute the technicalities of what constitutes a recession, rationalisation does not change the lived reality of Australians. Ignoring a problem doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and it doesn't make it go away.

This economic crisis is not just a statistic. It is a stark reflection of Labor's poor economic management. Under this government, real household incomes have fallen consistently, with disposable income down nine per cent since March 2022. Living standards have dropped 8.7 per cent over that same time, leaving Australians worse off than ever, despite working harder, paying more and facing higher taxes.

For many Australians, Christmas—our holiday season—is traditionally a time to relax, spend time with loved ones and enjoy the fruits of their hard work. However, this cherished time has increasingly become a source of stress. Jobseeking site Indeed reports a significant rise in searches for festive season roles compared to previous years, a sign of the growing financial strain on Australian households. The Salvation Army paints an even grimmer picture. Of those reaching out for food assistance this Christmas, 55 per cent will be doing so for the first time. These are people who are working but can't afford to pay their bills, and they can't afford to buy food to celebrate Christmas. Loneliness, anxiety and stress will affect 35 per cent of people this Christmas, while spending on gifts is set to drop by 48 per cent as families struggle to scrape together the funds for even the basics that they need.

The basics are far from affordable. The prices of Christmas staples have gone up since this government came to power. Christmas ham is up 17 per cent; turkey, 14 per cent; prawns, 32 per cent per kilo; and the pavlova, 38 per cent. This is the human cost of Labor's so-called economic progress. This Christmas, Australia will feel the weight of these costs. They'll see it in the empty seats at their table, as many families can't afford to travel to be together. They'll feel it in the rising price of groceries and in the mounting anxiety of stretched budgets and limited options. Families will be made to feel like they have failed each other when they can't be together.

These struggles are not happening in isolation. They are the result of broader economic pressures that the government's policies have failed to address. While the private sector falters, the government has leaned heavily on public sector spending, leaving household consumption at its weakest since the depths of the pandemic. Persistently high inflation and record migration continue to dilute economic growth, offering little relief to everyday Australians. While those opposite are quick to take credit for budget surpluses, these are cold comfort to Australians struggling to pay their bills. A surplus doesn't fill a fridge, lower a power bill or ease financial pressure on families.

There is no point playing a blame game here, but let's be clear. This government has had three budgets to address these issues. This is their economy. This is their crisis. This isn't political pointscoring; these are facts, and it is the reality for far too many Australians. As we look towards 2025 and the next election, Australians must ask themselves: are they any better off than they were three years ago, with their mounting bills and increasing costs? Has their cost of living improved? The answer for most is a definite and absolute no.

Australians deserve better than this. Australians deserve a government that fights for their future, not one that erodes it. Australians deserve a government that acknowledges and accepts the problems that are a reality for them every single day, when they struggle to pay their bills and make decisions about what their family can and can't have—not a government that tells them, 'No, it's not really that bad,' because it is absolutely that bad.

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

Here we are again back in the chamber and we've got the crocodile tears from those opposite for Australian workers and for Australian families who are doing it tough. If those opposite were really serious and if indeed they had cared even a little bit for Australians and their families who are doing it tough, they wouldn't have spent the entire year in this chamber saying no—voting against every measure that this Labor government has brought into this chamber and this parliament. Seriously! I think you are truly underestimating the Australian people. They see right through you and they certainly see who Mr Dutton really is.

When it comes to the reality of helping Australians, why was it that, when you were in government, you left the country with an amazingly huge financial debt which was out of control? You talked about us having had three budgets. We're the first government—in how long?—to bring down a surplus. You promised it, but you never delivered it. We have brought down two consecutive budget surpluses.

We have put forward cheaper medicines to help people with the cost of living, and 60-day scripts, which will help with the cost of living. And what did you do when you were in government? You had a policy of keeping wages low. You say we've been here almost three years. Why didn't you address the aged-care issues during your 10 long years, when you sent that sector into crisis? It is an absolute shame on your government for not addressing wages for aged-care workers, not investing in and addressing what you knew was impacting on older Australians. Why did you vote against a pay rise for early childhood educators? Why didn't you support them?

The only reason we're having this debate today is that we're going into Christmas and you want to get a few social media grabs. But the reality is that people who are doing it tough know which colour of government will always look after them, whether they're workers—looking after their rights at work to make sure they're protected—or it's ensuring that there's investment so that there's more GP bulk billing, which has had an amazing impact in my home state of Tasmania. We've invested in urgent care clinics. The four that we have in Tasmania are ensuring that people have access to a GP when they need it, and all they need is a Medicare card.

Let's not forget your former Prime Minister who said, 'If you want to buy a house, you've got to have rich parents.' That's the attitude of those opposite. So you're coming in here, trying to rewrite history, blaming us for not delivering on some election commitments—we have delivered on them. When it came to giving people relief on their energy bills, I can't remember how you voted. Can someone help me? You voted no. You voted no on every single measure that was going to have a real impact on Australian families. And what did you do around housing? You cuddled up to the Greens and spent an entire week—an entire week—not voting against the bills but voting not to have a vote on those bills. And you expect the Australian people to believe the hands on hearts and the crocodile tears and the rubbish that is now being put forward in this chamber? Really! Well, I have more faith in the Australian people; I really do.

I've called out the Australian Greens political party for playing political games for 12 long months when there could have been more social and affordable housing and Australian families could have been helped to buy their first home. When it suits those opposite for some political campaign, we get the same rhetoric the entire time. The proof is always in the pudding. The proof is on the record in how they voted each and every time.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

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

Why did you vote against the tax cuts? You were going to withdraw them; you said you would not go ahead with them. We delivered a tax cut for the Australian people because we believe that you should get a fair day's pay— (Time expired)

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

Australians are experiencing the longest per capita recession on record, with six consecutive quarterly falls in per capita GDP and seven declines in the previous eight quarters. This Christmas, many Australian families will be torn between purchasing presents for their children and paying those skyrocketing electricity and food bills. It is extraordinary to think that many Australians this December, like Mary and Joseph on that first Christmas, will be wondering where they will live, since there is no affordable housing.

Sadly, this year doesn't look like a great Christmas for the vast majority of Australians. The election of the Albanese government did not signal joy to the world; our government is hardly filled with wise men after all! The original wise men arrived that first Christmas bearing gifts, but Labor's wise guys arrive bearing little more than bills. Instead of gold, there's debt. Instead of frankincense, there's the stench of broken promises. There's no gold, there's no frankincense—and as for myrrh, most of us haven't any more clue about what myrrh is than we do about what Labor's plan is to reduce the cost of living.

The Labor Party constantly promise that they will arrive with gifts, only to turn up with boxes that, once unwrapped, are discovered to be empty. More Australians believe in Santa Claus than in the Albanese government's promises—and can you blame them, after the last 2½ years? If Australians have a merry Christmas, it will be not because of but in spite of this government.

Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Home Ownership) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This has been an ugly period in Australia's economic management, perhaps one of the ugliest periods since the Second World War. Ultimately, when you look around the country, people are most disappointed by the government's failure to move on two things: restraining inflation, because that eats away at the day-to-day living standards of Australians and small business; and housing.

All you need to do is look at any published piece of research in the country to see that people under 40 in particular are going crazy about how difficult the housing market is. This government has presided over the greatest collapse in housing construction in recent memory, yet we're constantly lectured by this government on how much money is spent on housing and how many bureaucracies it's established. Guess what? The most important thing is not how many bureaucracies you build; it's how many houses you are ultimately able to construct in this country.

In a constrained market where the government have allowed a million people to come into the country over the last two years—the highest net increase since 1950s—the collapse in housing construction occurring simultaneously with the greatest uptick in migration since the Second World War has put the biggest squeeze on—and the government then cruelly tells us how great this very niche Help to Buy scheme is. I saw all the social media posts from the Prime Minister and all the ministers today heralding the end of the housing crisis with this Help to Buy scheme—a scheme in which 96 per cent of the houses in Sydney are ineligible for purchase. This is a cruel hoax that the Labor Party is seeking to foist on the Australian people—a cruel hoax indeed.

Ultimately, with the failure to address inflation—we've seen the numbers today: 3.5 per cent trimmed mean inflation—the Reserve Bank, unfortunately, has no prospect of cutting rates, and Australians will pay more for their mortgages because of the spending of this government. The Governor of the Reserve Bank, Ms Bullock, could not be clearer that public demand is causing a problem. It is making it impossible to get the inflation rate down to a point where the Reserve Bank can cut. Until they cut, Australians will pay more for their mortgages and they will, in fact, have a much tougher time than they otherwise should. That is why we need to have a government that is prepared to live within its means and not engage in these spendathons on the Public Service, off-budget items, slush funds—we need to get rid of all these things.

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

I'm proud to be able to make a contribution to this debate today. There are a few people here in the chamber watching the Australian democracy at work. I'm sure there will also be a few like me, before I came to this place, driving along at 4.30 and listening in after they've done the school pick-up. It's not always the most popular channel with the kids but sometimes the debate in this place is a part of people's real world.

What people look for when they come to this place is a bit of hope. They also seek the truth. They need to hear the truth because what we do here matters. What we've seen emerge in the period that the Albanese government has been in place is an understanding that when we say that we're going to look after the Australian people, we can't just come in here and spout words, as I've heard in some of the contributions from those who've preceded me. We actually have to do stuff. We have to do difficult things that will really help people. This is a government that is focused on helping people through the tough times in practical ways, and that does mean spending on the public purse to assist people in a time of real hardship. To every single one of the bits of assistance that the Albanese Labor government has given to small businesses, families and people who need access to medicines, all while still delivering two surpluses and paying down the national debt—every single time we've tried to assist—those opposite have said, 'No, don't do it.'

We are determined, as a government, to navigate Australia through these times of difficulty and uncertainty. We absolutely know that we need to ensure strong employment. That is the reality in Australia today. Happily, more people are working now than any time since the sixties, in terms of our population. A job is a powerful and wonderful thing. I have not forgotten about the students that would leave my classroom in year 10 or year 12 and how excited they were to get in the marketplace, bring their talent to the market and take home some wages. Fair wages for a fair day's work in a safe workplace—we have kept our eye on that prize. We've ensured that people get the support that they need when they really need it.

I will turn to the tax cuts for all Australians. If the Liberal and National parties had had their way, people with very high incomes would have had a much, much bigger tax cut and people on low incomes would have got zip, zero, nothing. That is not how you help people when they're struggling with the cost of living. Labor's tax cuts, with an emphasis on low- and middle-income earners because we don't want to leave people behind, are a reflection of what we believe. We believe that you should be able to go to work, do a good day's work, get a great opportunity to earn more and keep more of what you earn, and do with it what you wish for your benefit and the benefit of the family that you are a part of—saving part of it, spending part of it, building a future of hope for yourself. We are the party of hope. We are the party of practical response to the very real challenges that Australians have faced, and every time we've responded we've had a wall of negativity from those opposite.

We want Australians to earn more and to keep more of what they earn, and that's why we gave tax cuts to every working Australian, not just some. We've ensured consistent wage rises for all award wage earning employees, and we've ensured stronger rights for workers, not undercut. We don't want people who are wearing the same uniform, standing side by side doing the same job, getting different levels of pay. That is just not the Australian way.

Senators on both sides of the chamber deserve the same pay. We are entitled to different thoughts and different words, but we deserve the same pay. Every Australian doing the same job deserves the same pay. That is a Labor commitment, and we will continue to offer Australians a fair and just Australia.

Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The No. 1 issue facing all Australians is the cost of living, and all Australians are hurting, regardless of demographics or income level. Those opposite want to blame everyone except themselves for the cost-of-living crisis. They claim to be slaying inflation, but the evidence to the contrary is very clear. Living standards have collapsed during the term of this government, and there are no signs of things improving. In fact, analysis of forecasts by the Reserve Bank of Australia show high inflation continuing well into 2026, which is far too long for our households.

The RBA is Australia's last line of economic defence. Because of the failed actions of this government—in particular, spending at record levels—the RBA has been forced to raise interest rates 12 times to bring inflation to more manageable levels. But that's not happening either, with core inflation rising to 3.5 per cent as at today. And of course it's not just the interest rate increases that have impacted real household incomes. Families are struggling because of the sharp increase in the costs of so many things—everyday essential expenditure, which they must cover from their disposable income.

Since coming to power, the Albanese government has overseen the price of everything going up by at least 10 per cent, including health care, education, food and insurance. Remember how they promised to reduce everyone's power bill by $275? That reduction will never be seen. Australian families have experienced the largest fall in real disposable income in the advanced world under the stewardship of this government. It has decreased by a massive 8.7 per cent, representing the largest fall ever recorded. So of course household budgets are stretched.

As Christmas approaches, many families are struggling, trying to decide where they can save a few dollars or what they can go without so they can buy that special gift or perhaps cater a special lunch. This Labor government is a failed experiment. It's time to return to a coalition government. It's time to get Australia back on track so we can restore the living standards of all Australians.

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

Things are getting worse. Australians know it, and the data is proving it. This, unfortunately for many Australian households, will be a cost-of-living Christmas. Today we've had more data, more bad news. Core inflation has risen to 3½ per cent, higher than in any other major advanced economy in the world. In fact, every other major advanced nation in the world has seen greater falls in core inflation than we have seen in Australia. But, more than that, interest rates in Australia are higher for longer, when interest rates in other parts of the world are now beginning to fall.

The data today proves yet again that Australia's inflation experience is homegrown, it is too high and it is sticky. Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers have failed to tackle inflation. Inflation is dictating the economic conditions for Australian households because Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers have failed to take action. We know that costs are going up. We know that real incomes are coming down, and families across Australia are paying the price, and they'll pay the price this Christmas and over this summer holiday period.

If that wasn't bad news enough for Australian households, we also know that living standards are now falling at rates that many of us would never have imagined, that many of us have never experienced before. This is the Christmas experience for Australian households, and Labor has failed in 2½ years to tackle inflation and has made Australian families poorer.

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

I rise today to address an issue of profound importance, and I thank my colleague Senator Kovacic for bringing this critical discussion to the Senate. As we approach Christmas, Australian families are writing their wish lists, but there's one item that everyone has in common—relief from the cost-of-living crisis. Sadly, what they're getting from this Albanese Labor government is not relief but more empty promises. Across the country, families are struggling to find the festive cheer. Skyrocketing grocery prices, relentless interest rates and Labor's mounting failures are leaving Australians with empty stockings and even emptier wallets.

One of the greatest casualties of Labor's mismanagement is the Australian dream of homeownership, a dream that has never seemed so out of reach as it is today. In the two years since Labor took office, the housing crisis has gone from bad to worse. Their pro-union tendencies have left the construction industry in chaos. Supply chain constraints, unchecked immigration and rising costs are making it even harder for first home owners to enter the market.

Australians are worse off today than they were three years ago, and, under this government, there's no recovery in sight. Families are shouldering the pain of 12 consecutive interest rate rises, a burden that will weigh them down for years to come. Costs are up; incomes are down. Australian households are enduring the longest household recession on record. Living standards have plummeted, and Australians are working harder than ever just to stay afloat. Labor's reckless and undisciplined spending is driving inflation higher and keeping mortgage rates and grocery prices painfully elevated.

Every day, Australians are paying the price for a government that prioritises short-term political gain over long-term economic stability. The reality is stark. Australian living standards aren't expected to return to pre-inflation levels until well beyond 2026, possibly not until the end of this decade. But this isn't just an economic issue; it's a human issue. The financial strain is breaking families and fracturing communities across the nation.

Disturbingly, Labor's plans to spend a record $87 billion off budget over the next four years is hiding critical spending priorities under the guise of investments. This alarming lack of transparency raises serious concerns about their fiscal management. It's Australians already doing it tough who will foot the bill for this government's failures, and, when it comes to priorities, Labor is completely off course. Take their backpedalling on gambling reform as an example. Despite promising to phase out gambling ads, the Prime Minister has folded. Under pressure from powerful corporations like the AFL, the NRL and media giants who profit from bombarding Australians with gambling ads, Labor is protecting those who exploit vulnerable people to make billions in profit. Or consider the spectacular backflip this week on the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024. While abandoning it is a win for free speech, let's be clear: Labor didn't walk away willingly. This wasn't principle; it was panic and a desperate retreat in the face of public outrage and parliamentary backlash.

Perhaps the most troubling of all is Labor's plan to undermine the independence of the Future Fund. This fund isn't just an account. It's a sovereign asset designed to secure our nation's financial future, yet the Treasurer wants to use it as a piggy bank to cover up Labor's economic mismanagement and failed pet projects. Let me be clear: raiding the Future Fund is short-sighted and irresponsible. It sacrifices the prosperity of future generations for the political survival of this government.

This government is weak. Its leadership is weak, and Australians deserve better. It's time for a government with a real plan that prioritises Australian families, safeguards the future and builds the trust and hope that this Labor government has squandered.

Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for the debate has expired.