PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Mr VENNING (Grey) (19:20): Thank you to the member for Bowman for bringing this important motion regarding economic plans before this House. Reflecting on some previous contributions, for everyone playing along at home, I would encourage you to do some googling: see how many of the frontbench in this Labor Albanese government has a commerce degree, a business degree.
How many of them have worked in the private sector? The answers will shock you. No wonder the economy is in the toilet.
When Labor came to government they were handed the biggest commodity windfall in our history. And what did they do? They blew it.
After 4½ years of the Albanese Labor government, it's time those opposite started taking some responsibility for their fiscal failure. Inflation is too high. The interest rate has a four in front of it—and climbing.
Productivity is weakening. And families are under enormous pressure. If the markets are any indicator, Labor is set to hand Australian families a cruel early Christmas present: another interest rate rise.
Last year the Treasurer, in all his wisdom, told us we had turned the corner on inflation. However, after 15 rate rises under this government, Australian families are bracing for another one this month. The jobs market is weakening—except in the public sector; 691,000 Australians are out of work, and that number is only rising.
This government has no-one to blame for their mess but themselves. While Labor's debt has surpassed $1 trillion, Treasury bond yields are on the rise, meaning that more money than ever is being spent on servicing the debt. That means less money for infrastructure and services.
Those opposite often say that that debt belongs to the coalition. Yet, had Labor had their way during COVID, they would have spent an additional $81 billion. Under the Albanese Labor government, the Public Service has grown by 28 people every single day—a 23 per cent rise, the largest recruitment drive this century.
And 92 out of 103 federal agencies have grown since Labor came to office. A government member interjecting— Mr VENNING: But one agency that has shrunk is the Productivity Commission—the very agency responsible for fixing the biggest problem in our economy. Don't get me wrong.
Our public servants do important work, from supporting our veterans and protecting our borders to helping older Australians access the services they deserve. There is vital work undertaken. The issue is the rhetoric from this government.
Labor says the recruitment drive is about replacing consultants, as the interjection just before said. But after a 23 per cent rise, there is not much to show for it. I was one of those consultants, by the way.
Show us where services have got better. You would think Veterans' Affairs would be the first in line to see improvement. Yet, after 4½ years of the Albanese Labor government, veterans tell me the system has never been worse.
While Canberra has been hiring, Australian businesses have been fighting to stay open. Labor's net zero obsession has inflated power bills by 40 per cent. Energy-intensive industries are falling like dominoes.
The steelworks in Whyalla, in my own electorate—550 jobs gone today—and the smelter in Port Pirie; they have both needed taxpayers to step in. There are only two ways forward. We can either keep patching the bleed with taxpayer bailouts, or we can fix the root cause by delivering cheap, reliable power so our industries can become competitive again.
We cannot have A Future Made in Australia without a competitive playing field. The coalition will scrap net zero and back any technology that delivers affordable and reliable energy for households, small businesses and industries that keep our regions running. We will deliver less migration and more homes by linking migration to the number of homes we actually build.
We will axe Labor's toxic taxes and deliver a tax back guarantee. And we will establish a future generations fund to pay down Labor's debt and invest in the roads, ports, energy and water infrastructure this country so desperately needs. The coalition's plan is to put Australians first.