Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's always valuable to hear the contributions from the member for Fraser. Labor have entered another dimension with this motion: they've gone on a journey through a wonderous land of imagination! They've entered the twilight zone. They're nestled deep within the Canberra bubble, comforted by the orchestrated applause of a loving Q&A crowd. They've distanced themselves from the realities of the Australian economy that surround them. They look out and see a world that isn't actually there; they don't see the real world, and that's how you get a motion like this—commending themselves on economic management. What they don't see is a world where grocery prices have gone through the roof—walking down those aisles at the grocery store, with mum and dad asking themselves, 'How much will this cost this time?' and knowing that the answer is always 'more'. They don't see the world where young Australians still want the great Australian dream of homeownership. They don't want government ownership of their homes, they want homeownership and they can't afford it. Prices continue to go up and there's their inability to save to meet the deposit demands, let alone to service growing payments.

They don't see a world where the rental market is so tight and expensive that it has absolutely crushed the ambitions of young Australians who are renting now but who want to be homeowners in the future. They don't see that. But they could, because the facts are out there. The facts are out there on Labor's economic management. Electricity costs are out of control; in some areas, electricity prices have risen by nearly $1,000. Western Sydney is hit particularly by that increase. And for a government that came in promising wage growth, real disposable income has fallen 7.5 per cent. People are working harder and getting less for it—what they can actually purchase is going backwards. Australians are now paying tax revenues 23 per cent higher; Australians are paying 23 per cent more tax to the government. That's money out of Australian pockets; working Australians are paying more and more tax. Prices on almost everything have increased by 9.8 per cent. They could see this; they could get outside the Canberra bubble, see the real world and see these price increases—they're out there. This is not economic management: interest payments on mortgages have almost tripled since Labor came to government. Think of those young families who have purchased the great Australian dream, who have got in on the property ladder but who are now seeing their interest repayments triple. Productivity has fallen 5.4 per cent, the biggest recorded fall since we started recording productivity. It's the biggest fall we've ever seen and, of course, productivity is directly connected to real wages. If productivity goes backwards then real wages go backwards, and Labor have proven that point.

But Labor look outside all this; they look across all this and see economic management, and they come in here to boast about it. They're in the twilight zone; they're in a world of wonderous imagination but horrendous financial pressure. It must be an entertaining world to live in. But for the rest of Australia—those who aren't on the conga lines of staffers and union officials awaiting their appointment to the great Labor machine—for those Australians who have to work for a living, sometimes outside air-conditioned offices—

An honourable member: And pay taxes!

And they pay taxes, and their taxes make this country a great place to live, work and raise a family in. It's not entertaining for them, it's a horror movie.

As Labor approaches their third budget while they're still trying to look somewhere else for blame, they're poorly managing migration. Five-hundred thousand people came to Australia in 12 months—the greatest influx we've ever had—driving house prices and rents up at a time when we've got an all-time low in housing approvals. They've made energy market interventions that haven't worked. No-one has gotten their $275 reduction. Prices have gone up. And worse—these interventions have resulted in massive taxpayer payouts. Just to make things a little bit worse, they've introduced terrible IR legislation that has reduced labour market flexibility, will continue to reduce labour market flexibility and will push productivity further down, which is going to push down real wages. This is economic management, apparently.

Just to top it off, I speak to the people of Groom in what I like to call Prado country. We've got our fantastic new ute tax. A Prado will go up $13,000. If you want to go with the Land Cruiser, it's $25,000. If you like the Ranger, as I do, it's $18,000 more. The tradies—the people doing the work, building this great country, out there sweating in the hot sun and paying their taxes—are going to be paying more. Worst of all, to wrap this up in a neat little bow, this government has introduced $209 billion of additional spending. At a time when the RBA is trying to take money out of the economy, they're pushing money back in.

See this speech in context