MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Ms BELL (Moncrieff) (15:43): It's been quite an entertaining MPI today, and even more so when the member for Sturt can get up and suddenly be on the same page as the Treasurer and the Prime Minister after sending an email out to her constituency saying that she agreed with their concerns about it being a flawed budget. It's interesting how a government member seems to be able to say one thing one minute and then completely disagree with herself here in this place—quite an entertainment.
Of course we had some entertainment as well from the member for Lyons, who was, of course, the former opposition leader down in Tasmania. After three failed attempts at the state elections down there, we actually had to send some of our Liberal members back down to Tasmania to sort them out down there and win the state election, which, of course, they did. But today does mark a critical point with our economy and a critical point in Australian history, because today the Labor government has taken Australia's national debt past $1 trillion.
It's hard to believe. I don't know what that pile of money would look like. I don't think any of us have seen $1 trillion at the mint and seen what that looks like, because there's probably not that much cash in the economy, frankly.
One trillion is an enormous number, but the important question is: what does it actually mean for younger generations—for 18-, 25- or 30-year-old Australians? If you can't really imagine what $1 trillion is like, the member for Flynn has been very helpful. He's worked out—actually, for young Australians—that one million seconds is about 11 days, that one billion seconds is about 31.5 years and that one trillion seconds is about 31,500 years.
That's sometime in the Star Wars of the future. So, if we were to pay that back at a dollar per second— Mr Moncrieff interjecting— Ms BELL: This is not including interest, member—I'll take the interjection. Not including interest, it would take 31,500 years if we paid it back at $1 per second.
Of course, it is for future generations to carry that burden. Young Australians are already asking, 'Will I ever be able to afford a home? Will my wages keep up with the cost of living?
Will I be able to raise a family? Will I have the same opportunities that my parents had?' Instead of making those things easier, Labor is making the starting line for young people harder. For young people who may be listening out there, I know the headline that Labor wants you to read is that they're making your life easier, but they're doing exactly the opposite.
Just look at what the NAB and Ray White have reported. They reckon that, for young people, rents are going to go up by 30 per cent. Why?
Because of your Labor government. That's why. It's not an abstract argument about accounting.
It's about the young people of this country and the debt that they will inherit. The government is maxing out the national credit card. The national credit card is bigger than this chamber.
It is huge. Every dollar of this debt has to be paid back by the taxpayer, and, with the debt now at $1 trillion, every year $27.7 billion is going down the drain on interest. That is a huge amount of money in interest only.
It is $52,000 every minute. That interest is money Australians will see absolutely no benefit from. It's money for nothing.
The point isn't just that the number is too large; it's what that money could otherwise do. For that money, young Australians could have more than 200,000 nurses or around $1,800 in tax relief for every taxpayer, including young Australians. These are not theoretical opportunities.
They are things Australians actually need and this government is wasting. They could have two years of annual childcare fees for 1.5 million children, and that's about how many children are in our childcare sector right now. Just over three years could pay off every Australian HECS debt.
That is the sort of money that we're talking about when it comes to the debt. But I want to get back to young Australians. They are getting squeezed from every direction, and it's because of this government that they are getting squeezed.
It's only the coalition that has a plan. We have a plan to fix the economy and a plan to protect our way of life in this country, because, when Labor run out of money, they come after yours.