Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2025-2026, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2025-2026, Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2025-2026

Senator KOVACIC (New South Wales) (11:56): Australians are struggling. Young Australians don't feel confident in the future, and that makes me very sad, because they should. It is our job to ensure that we hand over to the next generation a life and a country that are better and easier than the ones we have had, and we're not doing that.

Our legacy for them is for it to be harder for them, for them to have a greater debt burden, for them not to be able to own their own home and for them to have to work more to be able to maintain their standards of living. That's not okay. This Labor government hasn't been upfront with Australians.

Our economy is weak. We've seen every single day further confirm that fuel supply in our country is not guaranteed. In my home state of New South Wales, we're hearing different reports today from the premier of between 500 and 600 petrol stations without fuel.

That's from the New South Wales Labor premier. That's not from the Liberal Party. It's not from the opposition.

It's from the New South Wales Labor premier. Australians are hurting because of the actions and the inactions of this Albanese Labor government, and enough is enough. Australians are working harder but falling behind.

We have had the largest collapse in living standards in the developed world. That should be something that is front and centre for this government in terms of its actions with the upcoming budget. Think about that.

We have had the largest collapse in living standards. We have fuel instability. We have a weak economy.

We have interest rates that went up a couple of weeks ago because our inflation is higher than our contemporaries. And what is this government focused on? Are they focused on solving these problems?

I don't think so. My understanding is, at the moment, they're working very hard on plans to expand our parliament, to put more politicians into this building both in the Senate and in the House. The view of the coalition is they should be working to bring down inflation, they should be working to bring down interest rates, and they should be working to ensure productivity increases and that the living standards of Australians increase.

Australians have now endured 14 rate rises under this Albanese Labor government in some four years—14 rate rises. As will often happen, there will be the pushback from the other side that will talk about interest rates that they inherited—every story you can imagine. However, let's be clear, these 14 rate rises from this government are completely out of line with our global contemporaries.

This is the legacy of this government, but there's another side to this. There have also been three rate reductions under the Albanese Labor government—14 rate rises, three rate reductions. But guess what?

The Prime Minister and his Treasurer are more than happy to take credit for the rate reductions, but they don't want to be held responsible or accountable for the rate rises. Can somebody explain that to me? I'd really like to understand that.

Families are paying around $27,000 a year more on a typical mortgage. Despite working harder and harder, they just keep going backwards. That's not rhetoric, that is a fact.

That's $27,000 a year on an average mortgage that Australians have to pay because of the decisions of the Albanese Labor government. Our inflation here is higher than every single major advanced economy, and it is being driven by the decisions made by this government in this place, not just by global events. Because of this, our consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest levels since records began, stretching back over 50 years, since 1972.

I was two years old in 1972, so that was a really long time ago! It's even below the COVID-19 pandemic low of 2020. That is the legacy of the Albanese Labor government.

Our country is heading for a lost decade of productivity, leaving every Australian around $35,000 a year worse off. Productivity has declined under this government by about five per cent. Who is going to pay for that?

Young Australians, young people who will likely never be able to afford their own home. So they have the legacy of declining living standards, they have the legacy of declining productivity, they have the legacy from this government that they can't own their own home, they have the legacy of an increased debt burden into the future. No wonder young Australians are fed up and sick and tired of the people in this place.

We are focused on three imperatives: cutting unnecessary regulation, beating inflation and getting energy prices down. That is our job. That is what we have to do in order to improve the lives of Australians.

This government is running deficits because record levels of revenue are being outstripped by record levels of spending. That leads to the concerns I raised before. We have higher inflation and higher interest rates in significant part because of the spending of this government.

The Treasurer talks about restraint regularly, but he doesn't demonstrate restraint. We don't need words, we need action. This is setting up the next generation to have to pay off the debt of this Albanese Labor government.

I spoke about increasing interest rates. The RBA has had to raise rates in part because of this government's high spending. That's a reality.

Inflation in Australia, in the 12 months to January 2026, was 3.8 per cent. In the UK, it's three per cent. In the US, it's 2.4 per cent.

In Canada, it's 1.8 per cent. In Japan, it's 1.5 per cent. In Germany, it's 1.9 per cent.

The government cannot point to global factors because global factors do not impact Australia in isolation. What do impact Australia in isolation are the poor decisions of the Albanese Labor government. That is what impacts Australian primarily.

That does not have an impact on those other economies. Senator Chandler made an important point that this was the highest spending government in this country in 40 years outside of a pandemic. We may laugh, but it is a reality.

It is a sad reality. Senator Farrell: Tell the truth. Don't tell lies.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: No, no, no. Senator Farrell, you're experienced enough to know that that is not an acceptable interjection. Please withdraw.

Senator Farrell interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Could you please withdraw on your feet? Senator Farrell: Sure. I withdraw on my feet.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you. Senator Kovacic. Senator KOVACIC: I'll quote then from some of Australia's most eminent economists.

AMP's chief economist Shane Oliver said: A lot of the factors driving (inflation) relate to government spending. That's not me making it up. That's not the opposition making it up.

That's one of Australia's top economists. I have another one for you. IFM Investors chief economist Alex Joyner said: We already have fiscal policy getting looser, but it could be even looser than we expect.

The fiscal guard rails have come off. The government has even lost support from its friends from the industry super sector. But I have more.

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said yesterday: … the primary driver of the pick-up in inflation is not strong demand. To the extent that demand is playing much of a role, it is that public demand growth has been strong, due to government spending. Again, that's not me.

That's yet another economist. That is the legacy of the Albanese Labor government—spending growth running at four times the rate of the growth of this economy and debt set to reach $1 trillion. Since coming into office, this government has added $100 billion to the national debt.

Despite what those on the other side think, this government cannot escape the laws of economics. High government spending always results in higher inflation, and higher inflation demands higher interest rates. Australians are paying more when they have to pay their mortgage and when they have to pay their rent because this government is spending much more money than they have.

The impacts to Australians are such that their standards of living have crashed to amongst the lowest in the developed world. The Prime Minister and his Treasurer have a lot to answer for, but ultimately what we need them to do is start doing their job and start protecting Australians' way of life because Australians cannot take any more of this. Australians are struggling.

Our economy is weak, our fuel supply isn't guaranteed and Australians absolutely are hurting.