QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS
Senator BLYTH (South Australia) (15:18): There's a reason that they call it 'question time' and not 'answer time', and I think what we've seen today, from the Labor government, is, again, dodging answers to serious questions. The coalition asked serious questions. We asked serious questions for older people here in Australia.
We asked serious questions about young people and how they're going to get in to the housing market. And all we got was political spin coming back to us from this Labor government. They do not care about the Australian people.
They are more interested in giving us their talking points and their spin on what is happening out there. But I think Australians know: Australians are doing it tough—Australians that have gone out there and taken the five per cent deposit scheme, who now have negative equity in their homes. Can you imagine the position that these young people are in?
They've gone out there, with this harebrained scheme which the Labor government decided was going to be great for everyone. The housing market has cooled, because they've decided to play around with the settings. This is all about an experiment for this Labor government, and what they've done is: they have created negative equity for these young Australians, who are going to struggle.
They are going to struggle to afford their mortgages, because we've had—how many interest rate rises have we had under this government? I think we were up to 14 or 15 last time I checked. Senator Hanson: Fifteen.
Senator BLYTH: We're up to 15. So there's negative equity and there have been 15 interest rate rises under this Labor government. It is disgraceful.
And then they've come out with this budget. This budget has set to cool the housing market, so we have seen auction clearance rates plummet across the country. That means fewer first home buyers getting into their homes.
No-one is bidding for homes anymore. First home buyers are even wanting to stay out of the market because they're just not sure what is going to happen. Every time this Labor government tries to play with the economy—every time this Labor government experiments on the Australian people—it is disastrous.
How does it solve this? This is a government that—rather than having to live within its means like everyday Australians—is not cutting spending. It is not controlling our federal debt.
What it is doing is taxing Australians even more: $70 billion in additional taxes for hardworking Australians. That is $70 billion that Australians have to first earn, for the government to come along and take it from them. That's the reality of this government here.
If you're an older Australian in Australia, look out. This government is coming for you, too. There is no-one who is safe from the sticky fingers of this government.
If you've saved all your life, worked hard and made sure that you provided for yourself in your retirement—don't worry; this government is going to come and take that from you as well. What it's going to do is say to you: 'If you need some help—if you need an aged-care package—you will literally die waiting for it.' That is the reality under this government. There is no dignity in the way that they are looking after older people in this country.
There are hundreds of thousands of older Australians waiting for the dignity of an aged-care package in this country, and it is a disgrace that they are dying waiting for them. It is an insult that this poor family—who had to beg for their loved one to be assessed for an aged-care package and wait for 10 months, caring for and trying to allow their loved one to age with dignity, only for them to pass away—a couple days after the funeral got a letter saying the aged-care package— (Time expired) Question agreed to.