House of Representatives 25 August 2025
Speaker:
I give the call to the Member for Fisher.
Andrew Wallace MP:
Thanks, Mr Deputy Speaker.
I rise to speak on this motion because it is of great interest to me, as it is to 27 million Australians who have never been doing it tougher than they are today.
When Labor was campaigning for the last election, they promised Australians the world and delivered them an atlas. They promised a better quality of life and a cheaper standard of living. What they have delivered, and continue to deliver, is more hardship for Australian families.
There is more month at the end of the money. People cannot make ends meet anymore. Why? There are many reasons, but one of the main ones is this Government’s energy policies.
In the 2022 election, Labor promised Australians a $275 reduction in their energy bills. Three years later, energy prices have gone up by 30 per cent, more than $1,200 a year. Instead of saving $275, Australians are paying more than $1,000 extra under this Government compared to the Coalition.
Australians cannot fathom why this Government continues with its all-renewables policy when it is crippling families and businesses. A record number of Australian businesses have gone broke under Labor’s watch.
I also want to give a shout out to the Member for Fairfax, who endured the Treasurer’s three-day “love-in” at the roundtable last week. He rightly called out the Treasurer for presiding over a significant increase in government expenditure.
We have gone from 24 per cent of GDP in government spending to 27 per cent in just one term. This Government is addicted to spending. It is on track to reach $1 trillion in debt by the end of this year, and $1.2 trillion by the end of this term.
At some point, the music will stop. As every Victorian knows, debt has consequences. Their state has been driven into the depths of despair by Labor governments before, and history is repeating itself.
That is why Australians today cannot pay their food bills, fuel bills or energy bills. That is why so many families are forced to decide whether to heat their homes or put food on the table.
Australians should not have to make that decision in 2025, but they are, because of this lazy, economically reckless Federal Labor Government.
Speaker:
I thank the Member for Fisher.
END
