MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Mr VENNING (Grey) (16:04): I like to thank the gutsy the member for Goldstein for bringing forward this important MPI today. Because when Aussie families head to the supermarket for their weekly shop, the prices on the shelf are telling a story this government will not. Since the change of government eggs are up 36.5 per cent, milk is up 30 per cent, bread is up 23 per cent and food, overall, is up 18 per cent.
Every one of the 12 staples on my shopping list has risen faster than inflation itself, and that is just the weekly shop—all before our family has filled up the car or been jumped scared by their power bill. While we're on the topic of power bills, I'm pleased to give this House an update on how those opposite are going with delivering on their promise to take $275 off Australian power bills.
Well, electricity is up—and it is up big time—by an eye-watering 40 per cent. You might think it can't get any worse than this, but under this government it can—and it is getting worse. Gas is up more than 40 per cent, insurance is up more than 43 per cent, rents are up 24 per cent.
This Labor government will do anything but take responsibility for stoking the inflation fire, pouring debt diesel on the inflation inferno. Prices set here in Australia are up 4.8 per cent in a year. Inflation is homegrown and this government keeps on feeding it.
The Reserve Bank says government spending will continue adding to demand, and it has downgraded productivity once again. This is the first generation in our history where our kids will have a lower standard of living than their parents. Last year, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer told Australians they had turned the corner on inflation.
Yet, like most promises made by this government, they promised a feast but delivered a toastie. Inflation in Australia is set well above the Reserve Bank's target. Our underlying inflation is higher than every other economy in the G7.
This is not merely a coincidence. Australian families are paying more at the check-out; they are paying more on their mortgage. Yesterday, the Reserve Bank unanimously held the cash rate at 4.35 per cent—the highest rate under this government and the highest since November 2011.
After 15 interest rate hikes under this government, and more than four years of poor economic management, relief is nowhere in sight. A family on an average new mortgage is paying $26,000 a year more, and that's after tax. Real wages have gone backwards by two per cent, with prices up to 16.2 per cent and wages up only 14.2 per cent.
Under Labor, Australians are earning less and keeping less of what they earn. Living standards have collapsed and families have tightened their belts. But there is one man who won't—the Prime Minister.
More spending, more taxes, more pressure on the household budget: this is his record. We have the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world. GDP per capita, which is what's important, has been going backwards in 10 of the last 15 quarters and inflation is averaging four per cent a year under Labor against 2.2 per cent under the coalition.
Note: 2.2 per cent is in the target band. The coalition have a plan for the economy. We will restore living standards and protect our way of life.
We'll deliver lower taxes, cheaper power, less migration and more homes. It starts by cutting Labour's waste and delivering on our tax back guarantee so that Australians can keep more of what they earn. Australians have a clear choice at the next election: a coalition government with a plan to fix the economy, restore our living standards and protect our way of life or a Labor government that lowers your living standards, hikes your taxes and has lost control of the economy.