MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE

Mr TIM WILSON (Goldstein) (15:32): Let's be frank. That was the weakest defence I have ever heard of a government period, let alone the Albanese government. I'm starting to realise why the member was a failure of an opposition leader in Tasmania, but we welcome those skills on the bench of the Albanese government because we know that that is what is now going to be added to the contribution of the country.

We have a government— Government members interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ): Order! Despite provocative statements being made, I don't expect interjections from this side either. But it carries for everyone, and I'm going to ask for a little bit of respect to be brought into this debate.

I have been very unhappy with the way it has been conducted so far. I'm going to give you the call, Member for Goldstein, and let's give this another go. Mr TIM WILSON: Let's use eagles as a comparison then.

We have not seen the eagles soar from the previous speaker. In fact, we have heard a very weak defence of the Albanese government. Australians are living the consequences of the Albanese government's active inflation agenda, and at 10.30 today we ticked over a new milestone: $1 trillion of public debt.

Despite every single spin, every single narrative and every single interjection we're getting from the members presently, it doesn't change some simple facts. Through inflation and mineral resources, this government has seen a $400 billion windfall. What's their answer?

What's their solution? 'Let's just spend it, stoke the inflation, tax the inflation and then go on and continue to spend the inflation in a vicious cycle so Australians get poorer.' The $1 trillion of debt is the reason why the prices are rising at the supermarket. The successive failures of this government—despite the boasts of the Treasurer and the Prime Minister at the dispatch box during question time about how Australians have never had it any better—mean that the Australian lived reality is very different, with rising rents and the biggest collapse in living standards in the advanced world.

Let's remind the House again about that again—the biggest collapse of living standards in the advanced world under the Albanese government. They are living Reagan's dictum, which says: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it.

And if it stops moving, subsidize it. The government simply does not understand what leads to growth, what creates opportunity and what improves the living standards of Australians. But there is one thing we do know, and that is that this government is addicted to spending and to inflation.

As inflation junkies, they're always looking for their next hit. That's why the $1 trillion of debt is so important, not just because today's debt is tomorrow's taxes—though it is. It's a constant injection into the economy, which is stoking inflation and which means that young Australians are going to be left with bigger debt and higher taxes, and they're going to have a corrosion of their living standards every step of the way.

What Australia needs now more than anything is change. We need a change where we see a future with young Australians who are not looking at their shoes in despondency but looking at the horizon with hope. That is absolutely why we have a plan to get— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ): No to the props!

Get them away immediately. The Leader of the Opposition did that earlier, and I warned him, so don't dare bring it out again. Mr TIM WILSON: I'm happy to table and seek leave to— The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Put it down.

I've told you no props. Put it away. Mr TIM WILSON: I seek leave to table a copy of our plan.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Well, you didn't ask for leave. Is leave granted? Dr Leigh: Leave is not granted.

Mr TIM WILSON: This is the problem with the government now. They don't want to see a plan of hope for the future, they don't want to hear a plan of hope for the future, and they certainly don't want anybody to speak of a plan of hope for the future, because they know that a plan for the future which isn't built on taxation, regulation and stoking inflation and which will leave Australians poorer, would embarrass this government and its legacy.

Now is the time Australians need to stand up against their government and call out their hubris and their arrogance, because they are sending Australia backwards with the biggest decline in living standards in the advanced world. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: A reminder that there will be no props on any side.