MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Ms LANDRY (Capricornia—Chief Nationals Whip) (16:03): Australians don't need this government to tell them how they are doing. They see it every time they open their power bill, every time they pay their mortgage, every time the rent goes up, every time they walk through the supermarket check-out and every time their pay packet buys a little less than it used to.
The question before the House today is why this government has failed to be honest with Australians about why they are worse off. The numbers tell a clear story. Inflation is running at 3.8 per cent, housing costs have risen by 6.8 per cent, rents are up 3.6 per cent and electricity prices have risen by 22.4 per cent.
Yet wages grew just 3.2 per cent. For Australians with a mortgage, it gets worse. According to the ABS, after interest rate rises in February, March and May, mortgage interest charges jumped 8.2 per cent in the June quarter alone.
The Reserve Bank says mortgage and consumer credit payments are consuming almost 12 per cent of household disposable income. Australians were promised something very different. They were promised electricity bills would be $275 lower by 2025.
Instead, electricity prices are now 22.4 per cent higher than a year ago. That is not $275 lower. And look at how we compare internationally.
The OECD reports that, since the beginning of 2021, real hourly wages in Australia have fallen by approximately five per cent—five per cent. That is one of the steepest falls amongst OECD nations, while the OECD median recorded a slight increase. The OECD said Australia's real disposable income declined markedly as inflation eroded real wages, bracket creep increased the tax burden, and mortgage repayments rose.
Australians aren't imagining that they're feeling poorer. Their purchasing power has genuinely been eroded. And then there is housing.
New dwelling prices rose 5.8 per cent over the past year, while rents rose 3.6 per cent. The OECD identifies high mortgage rates, construction costs and rapid population growth among the pressures on housing affordability. Australians who own a home are watching the value of their biggest asset fall.
Since the housing market peaked in March, national home values have fallen for five consecutive months and are 3.6 per cent below that peak. In Sydney, values have fallen 7.1 per cent, while 93 per cent of capital city suburbs recorded falling home values over winter. The Reserve Bank says the weakening housing market reflects interest rate rises, weaker sentiment and tax changes announced in the Albanese government's May budget.
Australians are caught between a rock and a hard place. Those trying to enter the market face high interest rates, and living costs make it harder to save for a deposit. Those who already own a home face high mortgage repayments while their biggest asset is falling in value.
Yet Australians have struggled to get straight answers about migration levels and the pressure that population growth places on housing, infrastructure and essential services. Australians are also paying more tax through bracket creep. When wages rise but tax thresholds don't, Australians can pay a greater portion of their income in tax without becoming genuinely better off.
They earn more on paper and still go backwards in the real world. While households deal with all of this, they have watched this government change positions on issues that they were assured would not change—negative gearing, capital gains tax and superannuation tax. Governments are entitled to propose tax reform, but Australians are equally entitled to compare what they were told before an election with what happens afterwards.
That is why honesty matters. Governments should explain why changes are necessary and be upfront about what they mean for households. That is how you take Australians with you.
You don't build confidence by leaving people in the dark. You build it by trusting Australians with the facts. When Australians are worse off, they also deserve transparency about decisions affecting their lives.
Whether it's taxpayer funding for Marrickville golf club, migration levels or the return of Australians with links to Islamic State, people deserve clear explanations about what the government is doing and why. When families are struggling with mortgages, rents, energy bills and declining real wages, the concerns cannot simply be blamed on social media algorithms.
The proposed digital duty of care legislation may help the government with what is said about it online, but regulating an algorithm won't reduce the mortgage repayment, it won't reduce the rent, it won't bring down the electricity bill, it won't restore lost purchasing power and it won't rebuild trust in government. Australians are worse off where it matters—in their household budgets.
Australians don't need spin or to be told an algorithm is responsible for their frustration. They need government to level with them about the state of the economy, the consequences of its decisions and where this country is heading. (Time expired)