STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator HUME (Victoria—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (13:57): Every day, Australians are paying the price for Labor's failure to get inflation under control, and alarm bells continue. Economists are warning that Australians could be facing back-to-back interest rate rises after the Reserve Bank made it very clear that inflation remains too high. That is a devastating prospect for millions of Australians who are already suffering with the cost of living.

Labor promised Australians that they would be better off. The Prime Minister looked them in the eye before the election and said that they would be better off under Labor. Instead, Australians have seen their living standards collapse further and faster than in any developed nation.

Underlying inflation has remained above the Reserve Bank's target band for 13 consecutive months now—13 consecutive months—and Australia continues to have higher inflation than every comparable economy. It can't be coincidence. It can't be somebody else's fault.

What has Labor done about this? Well, while the Reserve Bank has had its foot on the brake, Labor has had its foot on the accelerator—$400 billion of windfall revenue, and it's gone. It's been spent.

Government spending is now at its highest level in four decades outside of the pandemic. This is crisis-level spending, and it's supposed to be business as usual! Labor is making the Reserve Bank's job so much harder, putting more pressure on demand and making it harder to bring inflation down.

That means interest rates have to stay higher for longer. Australians are paying the price for it, with higher mortgage rates, higher rents, higher electricity bills and less money in their pay packet at the end of every day. This is Labor's fundamental economic failure.

They've spent more, they've borrowed more, they've taxed more, and Australians have seen their living standards fall. They don't need more excuses; what they need is a government that's going to fix the economy. Only the coalition will get government spending under control.

We'll cut waste and inflation at their source because Australians cannot afford another year of Labor. (Time expired)