PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Mr REBELLO (McPherson) (11:27): They just don't get it, do they? They just do not get it. We've seen the contribution from the member opposite who came in here to lecture us on the Commonwealth budget and on—get this—what responsible governments do.

I'm not one to take lectures from those who have presided over the biggest collapse in our living standards in over 40 years, and I'm not one to take lectures from those opposite, who are overseeing an economy that is tanking and a situation where Australians are continuing to be subject to the difficult measures imposed by this government. The government has brought the country to its knees.

I remember an Australia where we used to call ourselves a lucky country. I remember that in the lead-up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics, when I was growing up as a child in the ACT, we used to be optimistic about the future, we used to be excited about the new millennium and we used to think about all the opportunities that lay ahead for us as a country and a nation.

Our young people that I speak to when I visit the schools across my electorate every week don't have those same views. They don't have those same ideas about where this country is going, because of where this country is at. That's why I absolutely congratulate the member for Bowman for moving this motion, because it's timely.

It's timely that we speak about an alternative vision for Australia. It's timely that we encourage a sense of optimism and pride in the fact that we can wind the clock back and get to a situation where Australians can be proud of the future and optimistic and excited for it as well. That's why the coalition has announced our plan to fix the economy and to protect our way of life.

The member for Bowman spoke to many of the components of that plan, but, in particular, to the four key pillars, which are delivering lower taxes, delivering lower power prices, providing more housing and putting Australians first. Each of those is not a slogan; there's actual detail in the policy document, and I'd like to focus on a few of those at the moment.

The first is our plan for less migration and more homes. When I speak to young Australians across the country, it's clear that they cannot get into the housing situation at the moment. They can't break into their first home.

The government have created a situation where they've made it even harder. Every discussion that we have in this place—this includes in the migration and housing space—and every policy idea that the government has put forward are all about one thing. They're not about generating new wealth.

They're not about growing the economy. They're about redistributing what we already have, and that is something that we should be concerned about. If we go back to how I started this speech and if we talk about how we can create a country and a future where young Australians can be optimistic about where the nation is going and how they can best participate in it, you do not do that by simply having discussions about how we redistribute what we already have.

That is, ultimately, at the core of what our policy and plan is. When we're talking about housing, the government's solution is, 'Okay, let's just carve up what we already have.' They're not building the homes at the rates that we need. We've got a plan for more homes, and we do that by making sure that, firstly, we're deregulating the building industry, encouraging and incentivising the build of new houses.

Secondly, we're also making sure that we are being realistic not only with Australians but new Australians as well. When you come to this country, we shouldn't be bringing you into an environment where you can't find a job or a house. We're making sure that we will cap our migration numbers based on the number of homes that have been completed in the previous period.

That is how you meaningfully address what the situation is. It's the same thing with energy. The government's talking about how we carve up what we've already got.

We want a plan of energy abundance—about more energy and unlocking our natural resources. Those are the ideas that we as a country need to be putting forward. Our plan to fix the economy and protect our way of life is something that will actually go beyond the next election cycle.

This is long-term, generational reform. I encourage those opposite to consider it and maybe take a leaf out of this book.