JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
5 August 2026
Shadow Treasurer the Hon. Tim Wilson MP will visit the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday, 5 August to meet with local families, business owners and financial professionals about the pressures they are facing under the Albanese Labor Government.
Hosted by Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace MP, the visit will begin with a business breakfast at Alex Surf Club, where Mr Wilson will outline the Coalition’s economic priorities and take questions directly from local business owners and community members.
The Shadow Treasurer will also visit local businesses, participate in a roundtable with accountants and tour the headquarters of Kilcoy Global Foods at Birtinya.
Mr Wallace said the visit would ensure the experiences of Sunshine Coast residents were heard directly by the Coalition’s senior economic team.
“I have spent recent months holding town halls, listening posts, community forums and business events across Fisher, and the message from locals could not be clearer,” Mr Wallace said.
“People are working harder, paying more and increasingly feeling that responsible choices are being punished rather than rewarded.
“Dale and Tanya from Six Zero Pickleball in Bokarina are building a local start-up, but the cost of doing business under Labor has become so difficult that they are now considering moving overseas simply to make their business viable.
“At the same time, successful local employers such as Kilcoy Global Foods are dealing with the pressures of higher energy costs, workforce shortages, regulation and an increasingly challenging economic environment.
“These are the people Tim Wilson needs to hear from directly, and I am pleased he will be on the ground listening to their experiences and discussing how the Coalition can restore confidence, reward enterprise and get Australia’s economy back on track.”
Mr Wallace said cost-of-living pressures were also hitting retirees and pensioners from multiple directions.
“Patricia from Dicky Beach made sacrifices throughout retirement to maintain private health insurance and help keep pressure off the public hospital system, but Labor’s proposed rebate changes could now cost her more than $1,000 every year,” Mr Wallace said.
“John from Golden Beach has been hit with a $60-a-week rent increase, a reduction in his pension because of changes to deeming rules and the prospect of paying even more for private health insurance.
“Tanya from Pelican Waters has also been forced to reject a Home Care Package for her 87-year-old mother after discovering the same basic services could cost more than $28,000 a year under Labor’s new aged care arrangements.
“These are not isolated examples. They show how Labor’s policies are compounding financial pressure on Australians who have worked, saved and tried to do the right thing.”
Mr Wilson said the Coalition was doing what Labor won’t: actually listening.
“Andrew has done important work bringing together residents, retirees, professionals and business owners to explain what is happening on the ground across the Sunshine Coast,” Mr Wilson said.
“You don’t build good economic policy from a press release in Canberra. You build it by listening to the people who employ Australians, invest in their communities and balance the household budget every single week.
“Under Labor, Australians are paying more, taxed more, and getting less for it. Higher prices, higher taxes, higher costs, and a government that shrugs while living standards go backwards.
“A business that succeeds in Australia shouldn’t be looking at closing as its only path to survival. A retiree who worked hard and saved responsibly their whole life shouldn’t have Labor’s new tax reaching into their family’s savings the moment they die or divorce.
“The Coalition has one job: back the people who are actually building this country. Restore the standard of living Labor has taken from Australians, back small business to grow instead of just survive, and build an economy where hard work actually gets you somewhere again.”
The visit will also include Six Zero Pickleball, an accountants’ roundtable and a visit to King Truss at Bells Creek.
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Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au
