MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Mr REBELLO (McPherson) (15:55): I rise today to speak to this matter of public importance raised by the shadow treasurer. From listening to some of the contributions opposite, in particular the contribution that we've just heard—the member for Leichhardt said there's 'a lot of noise, not a lot of help'. I think that's exactly what Australians are feeling right now.
They're hearing a lot of noise from Canberra, from this government, but they're not feeling the help, they're not seeing the help, and they're not hearing the help, and that is something that is hurting Australia at the moment. The people that I speak to on the southern Gold Coast and across the country are telling me that they're at breaking point. We come to this place to represent the people that have put us here.
For the time that I've been here—just over a year—we've been labouring a very key point, and that is that the government has lost control over our economy. They don't know how to generate wealth, so what are they doing? They're finding pockets across the economy where people have worked hard—they've done the right thing; they've built up and accumulated assets—and they're going after that, because there is no long-term strategy for how government can generate wealth, or create wealth, and then better enable Australians to provide for themselves in the future.
That, ultimately, is frustrating me as a member of parliament, because there are only so many times that we can come to this side of the chamber and make noise so that those opposite not only hear but take action. It goes back to the point made by the member for Leichhardt: there's a lot of noise but not a lot of help. And Australians are worse off because of it.
When we come into this place and when we speak in front of the media and we talk about the 15 interest rate rises that Australians have had to deal with under this government or when we speak about the fact that the cost of living is going up for Australians—eggs up 36.5 per cent, milk up 29.7 per cent, bread up 22.7 per cent, and food overall up 18.1 per cent, let alone rents, let alone mortgages, let alone everything else—we're doing it for a reason.
We're doing it for a reason, and that is because those numbers mean something to Australians. It means they can purchase less. It means they spend less time with their families because they're having to work extra hours, and it means that Australians who feel that they're putting in the effort—they're doing the right thing.
Australians are not doing the wrong thing, but they feel that their government's decisions are resulting in them being worse off, and they're not being rewarded for doing the right thing. If that is the precedent, if that is what we are setting Australia up for, we're setting Australia up to fail. The fact that those opposite not only don't understand it but are not prepared to engage in it—I listen to some of the comments made by those opposite.
They're still focused on us. After being in government for 4½ years, they're still focused on us. That's something that's really concerning to me.
I know that, when we hear Australians across the country saying, 'We're sick of the politics in Canberra,' this is what they're sick of, because they want government to be actually making their lives easier. I think about the next generation because, while this is all happening—if we had a situation where the government was spending more money but Australians were seeing the benefit, I think Australians would at least look at that and say, 'Well, okay, we're seeing the result of this.' But we're seeing the opposite.
We're seeing a government that is spending at record levels. Australians are feeling worse off. They're not feeling the pressure taken off them when they're looking at their monthly bills.
Instead, they're also being told that we've got a debt that is accumulating for our future generations. So, on all fronts, this government is failing. It is absolutely important that this is discussed today.
Very often, we overlook the fact that this is a matter of public importance. This is important, and, if the government can't see that—I assure you that the people in the galleries and the people watching will be making the noise between now and the next election, because Australians deserve better from this government. They deserve a government that's actually going to stand up for them.
They deserve a government that's going to recognise their concerns and act on them. To use the words of the member for Leichhardt again, there's a lot of noise but not a lot of help.