Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2026-2027

Mr PASIN (Barker) (11:50): This government has an uncontrolled spending addiction, and it's prioritising ideological objectives, which has in turn turned this budget into a political tool. Those opposite are reaping the rewards of windfalls from the very industries they would seek to shut down, dipping further into incomes earned by hardworking Australian families.

All of this is to fuel wasteful spending on a grand scale. They're using record sums of taxpayer funds to prop up their pet projects, and what does the average Australian have to show for it? Departmental budgets continue to rise, yet delivery remains hindered by bureaucracy, leading to very poor outcomes.

Consultants and contractors are still raking in hundreds of millions of dollars while public servants struggle with unclear priorities. Wasteful programs that were supposed to deliver once-in-a-generation outcomes have delivered cost overruns and disappointment. Regional grant programs have had their funding redirected or cancelled altogether under those opposite.

This budget continues that trend with the phasing out of the Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grant Program. For a world-class industry struggling to deal with decreases in global demand, it's a signal that those opposite simply don't care. The tax sourced from regional communities continues to rise, with ever-shrinking return on investment.

All the while, the Albanese Labor government continues to try to sell an alternative reality. 'Australians have never had it better,' those opposite continue to bleat. How many more government advertising campaigns will we need to see, where agencies are directed to spend millions in Australian taxpayer funds to tell Australians how to fill up their car, how to pump up their tyres or indeed how to remove their roof racks?

My question to the minister, amongst others, is: what will the total government advertising spend be by the end of this financial year? Time and again, this government continues to throw good money after bad. They tout themselves as responsible economic managers, but their continued wasteful spending tells a very different story.

Sadly, there seems to be no end in sight and seem to be no repercussions for that waste. Budget deficits are forecast to continue to rise every year across the next decade. Government debt will surpass $1 trillion.

All of this public expenditure adds further fuel to the fire, placing further pressure on inflation, acting like a silent tax on the bank balances of every Australian. Inflation limits how far your dollar can reach, adding to the cost of everything. We know that out-of-control spending from this government has already been responsible for keeping inflation at uncomfortably high rates.

The Reserve Bank has warned those opposite, but they haven't heard the message, and we've seen consecutive interest rate rises across the year. My question to the minister is: Minister, where is the fiscal restraint? Caught up in a spending frenzy, it seems like times are far too good for Labor to exercise any fiscal restraint.

That can be someone else's problem for some other time. Instead, they seek new ways to drain more and more money to fund their addiction. In this regard, the Albanese government is making history.

Facing an economic environment where living standards have fallen harder and faster than anywhere else in the developed world, we now have the highest-taxing government in our nation's history. In an effort to sell these measures as anything different, we have tax changes dressed up as reform that will instead hit housing supply, investors and ultimately everyday Australians through higher rents and reduced economic investment.

We see new and additional spending measures that fail basic value-for-money tests. Senate estimates has already shown that the government's fuel supply tsar is earning $2,750 a day, or the equivalent of a million dollars a year. On top of this, the simultaneous expansion of the Public Service, the funding of bargaining processes and the presentation of a budget that does not accommodate expected cost increases are reinforcing concern about Labor's broader fiscal approach.

Overall, expenditure from this government has skyrocketed, with no respite in sight. There is no doubt that, because Labor can't manage its money, it's coming after yours. My question to the minister is: Where is the accountability?

Or is your government one that's all care and no responsibility? (Time expired)