MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE

March 18, 2008

This is a very important matter that we are discussing today. The cost of living has been affecting families right around the country.

The real problem is that the cost of living is vitally important to Australian families. They feel they need more than just another inquiry; they feel they need more than just another bureaucrat, because the cost of living affects every family. It affects every single parent and it affects every pensioner and self-funded retiree. Every time they visit the shops, every time they fill their plastic shopping bag with goodies, they know that the cost of living is going up, and they judge their pension, their allowance or their wage against what they can buy for the money that they have. We are not talking about luxuries; we are talking about the necessities. We are talking about putting food on the table and putting petrol in the car. We are talking about a car that has to get people to work or kids to school. We are talking about the cost of keeping a roof over people’s heads. These are questions that people are really concerned about. They are far too concerned about these questions for the government to just appoint a bureaucrat. They are far too concerned about them for the government to just start another inquiry.

Mr Ciobo —The buck stops with the Prime Minister.

Mr «HARTSUYKER» —That is right. Where does the buck stop? The buck stops with the people to the right of Madam Deputy Speaker. They made the promises during the election campaign, and we on this side of the House are going to be keeping them accountable during this term of the parliament for the promises they made.

For those people who are living on limited incomes it is not necessarily an option to increase their income. Many of them are ill. Many of them are on a very low income—perhaps they are pensioners—and they just have to do what they can to manage their resources and their budgets to meet the day-to-day costs of living. They depend on the government to manage the economy well. They depend on those opposite. They depend on the Assistant Treasurer.

Mr Keenan —They will be sadly disappointed.

Mr «HARTSUYKER» —They will be sadly disappointed, because the government pulled down the hatches on the cost of living and then started talking up interest rates. How is the Treasurer of this parliament, who is wandering the countryside talking up interest rates, going to take the pressure off struggling families? How is he going to help them in any way whatsoever? We believe that families should have the lowest possible interest rates. We do not believe it is the role of the Treasurer to wander the countryside talking up interest rates and causing Australian families to pay higher mortgage repayments than they should need to pay. The families that I have talked to have an ominous feeling about the future.

We have seen business confidence collapse. We have seen consumer confidence collapse. A large part of that collapse has to be due to the lack of confidence in our Treasurer and the way in which he wanders the countryside talking up interest rates. We see that consumers are now facing a world oil price of $110 a barrel. People know that oil at $110 a barrel is going to translate and is translating into a higher cost at the bowser. It is going to mean that they have to think about taking that extra trip. It means that they are going to have to think about whether they can take the kids to soccer on a Saturday morning. They are looking to the government for a solution. They are looking to the Prime Minister and to the Treasurer, who are wandering the countryside, claiming they have the solutions for the problems facing the people of Australia—

Mr Ciobo —He promised prices would go down.

Mr «HARTSUYKER» —He promised prices would go down. That is right, member for Moncrieff: he promised that he would put downward pressure on prices. But what do people feel? They feel they have been the victim of a cruel hoax. A cruel hoax has been played on the Australian people. As I go around the country and talk to people, they tell me that they can feel the higher petrol prices and that they feel deserted. They were expecting action and, instead, they got a bureaucrat and an inquiry.

It is interesting to look at some of the quotes from the media about this issue. One Labor media statement on 10 June said that their sole purpose was to ensure ‘that Australian families are not paying one cent more to fill up their car than they should’. As with much that comes out of the Labor Party, we were left wondering what was meant by ‘pay no more than they should’. There is no detail about what people should pay or how the petrol commissioner would decide what they should pay or how he might enforce what they should pay. The clear implication is that, as soon as elected, the members opposite deserted the battlements on this fight and merely appointed this petrol commissioner.

We now have a petrol commissioner: Pat Walker, the former Western Australian Commissioner for Consumer Protection and Prices. I wish him well, I really do. The motorists throughout regional, rural and metropolitan Australia also wish the petrol commissioner well. They hope that he will be able to do what the Prime Minister and Treasurer imply—wave a magic wand and somehow give relief to these rising fuel prices. Unfortunately, I have to say to motorists, ‘Don’t hold your breath.’ At the time of his appointment, Mr Walker said:

This guy is sounding a lot less like the high-octane superman promised by the Prime Minister. It was interesting to note the testimony given to the ACCC inquiry into fuel prices by an organisation called Informed Sources. They said that they had made an analysis of the average price in Perth before and after the introduction of FuelWatch. FuelWatch was a scheme introduced by Patrick Walker. At the time of the introduction of FuelWatch, Informed Sources said that this analysis indicated that the introduction of FuelWatch increased the price of petrol in Western Australia by an average of 1c to 1.5c a litre. How is that going to affect consumers and motorists in Western Australia?

We have also heard a lot about the issue of climate change. We have heard members opposite being very vocal about climate change. It is an important issue, but there are some cost of living ramifications for families. There are some very big ramifications from it. There is a potential increase in the cost of electricity. There is a potential increase in many of the products that families buy. There is also a potential increase in the cost of petrol. It was interesting to see a report, which states:

Mr Ciobo —More price rises.

Mr «HARTSUYKER» —More price rises courtesy of the members opposite. The report goes on to say:

She refused to rule out higher petrol prices. The report continues:

I find that those remarks offer very little solace and very little comfort to Australian families trying to put fuel in their car and trying to go about their business.

I also came across a document from Caltex which looks at the carbon trading regime and what impact that might have on the price of fuel for motorists. Here are some of the examples that were given in the document: at a carbon price of $10 a tonne, the increase in the cost of fuel would be some 2.4c a litre for unleaded petrol; at $20 a tonne, 4.8c; at $30 a tonne, 7.2c; and at $50 a tonne, 12c a litre. I think it is imperative that the members opposite come clean with struggling families and give them some indication of the carbon regime they plan to introduce and what it will do to the budgets of families.

Then of course there are groceries. We are all aware of the magical wand that is going to be waved by the grocery inquiry. But it is interesting to look at the action of the government in relation to grocery prices. What was the thing they did most recently to reduce grocery prices?

Mr Ciobo —Put up the fuel tax!

Mr «HARTSUYKER» —They put up the fuel tax on trucks and they increased the cost of truck registration. As far as we on this side of the chamber can see, that is going to have an upward impact on the price of groceries; it is not going to have a downward impact. But with their perverse economics the members opposite seem to have a different slant on things. If this government are keen to put downward pressure on grocery prices, why not at least keep the cost of fuel excise for trucks the same? Instigating an inquiry is no substitute for putting up fuel prices—

Mr Ciobo —More taxes!

Mr «HARTSUYKER» —or registration taxes, indeed. It is more money in government coffers and more money out of the pockets of the consumers feeding into inflation. Wasn’t it the Treasurer that said inflation is our No. 1 priority—amongst a number of No. 1 priorities, I would admit? And what do they do? We hear the rhetoric. We see what they are doing. They are pushing up the cost of motoring; they are pushing up the cost of the inputs to the grocery industry.

This increase in fuel prices is not only going to have an impact on road transport. Increased fuel prices are having an effect right across the production chain, as it were, and that is flowing through as rising grocery prices to consumers. So really it is up to the government to take the lead by not increasing fuel prices. I call on the Assistant Treasurer to reverse this ridiculous decision. You cannot stand at the dispatch box and say that you are serious about pushing down the price of groceries to consumers and then push up the cost of the inputs. It is just not credible. The people of Australia will not believe you; certainly no-one on this side of the House is going to believe you. You are an absolute disgrace to the people of Australia—that you should push up those taxes and that you should push up the cost of groceries—because people are struggling out there.

We only recently had the issue of carers, a very deserving group in our society looking after their loved ones. What do the government members do? They propose to cut the carer bonus. How are they helping a struggling household by cutting the carer bonus? How is cutting payments to seniors going to take pressure off struggling families?

There is an incredible hypocrisy with those opposite. They talk the talk but they do not walk the walk. They feign concern for families, and all they can come up with is a petrol commissioner and another inquiry. That is all they can do. The people of Australia are looking for real leadership and real policies in this area—not hot air, not rhetoric and not excuses. We have had the Treasurer, as I said, talking up interest rates. We have the Assistant Treasurer pushing up the price of excise on fuel for trucks. Their rhetoric is not being matched by action and the Australian people are demanding more.

Mr Ciobo —They know the truth.

Mr «HARTSUYKER» —They very much know the truth. They are very quickly seeing through the rhetoric of Rudd. They are really calling on him to do a Rudd-flip with a pike and to reduce the fuel excise.

This is a very important issue indeed. It is one that the people of Australia are very concerned about. It is one that is very much front-of-mind and it is one that the people will be keeping the Australian government to account on over the months to come. We will certainly be reminding them of that fact. We believe that no appointment of a petrol commissioner or inquiry is going to take the place of good policy and real action. We will be expecting real action out of this government, and I know that the people of Australia will be speaking up very loudly on this subject in the weeks and months to come.