Dr WEBSTER (Mallee) (16:31): This MPI is about the government's reckless agenda, which is driving up the cost of living for Australian families. It's not actually a question. It is a statement that the policies that this government has brought in since 2022 are hurting Australian families. When families are paying, on a $500,000 mortgage, $23,000 more since Labor have come into office, that hurts. That hurts families. We have more families who cannot even think about purchasing a home because the housing market can't give them a home at a price they can afford. The policies that this government has implemented are hurting Australian families.

When they go to the supermarket—I'm not going to say the names. When they go to any supermarket, the prices that they're paying for eggs and for bread and for milk and for all the ordinary daily needs of a family are through the roof. Sixteen per cent is the current figure. Then you add in the electricity costs. Electricity is something that people need. In our society, people need electricity. Costs are up 40 per cent—40 per cent! How is that reasonable?

For the government—from the Minister for Climate Change and Energy to the Treasurer and the Prime Minister—to go on with the hubris and the arrogance that we've listened to today, it shows that they are all, every one of them, singing from the same hymn sheet: 'Not our fault. Not our fault. Don't look at us. It was actually those 10 years of waste and deficit.' It's 'the dog ate my homework'. This government needs to take responsibility. They've been in government for four years. When are they going to take responsibility?

Australian families are hurting. Whether it's paying school fees, whether it's putting fuel into their cars, it doesn't matter which way they go. They can't afford to live. A cup of coffee in 2022 was $4. How much is it now? It's $6 for the average latte, and that's a small one.

Mr Birrell: It's $7 in the Hunter.

Dr WEBSTER: It's $7 in the Hunter. There you go. The member for Hunter probably knows. The fact is that people can't afford to go out to a cafe any more. If they want to purchase a meal at a pub, the price is through the roof. I know because I take my family to the pub.

Then we go into all the subsidies. What drives this 13th rate increase? It comes because inflation is out of control. And guess what? It's on this Labor government's watch. It was not happening under the coalition. It is happening under this Labor government. They need to take responsibility for continually giving out subsidies. We've now got a new subsidy for EVs—another $50 million. 'That's not going to hurt anybody!' Yes it will, because it comes out of taxpayer pockets.

The way this government spends money to make up for or to put a bandaid on what is a broken economy is appalling. It will only cost taxpayers more. It will only continue to see inflation rise. I actually feel a little sorry for the RBA and for its chair. These are the stories they have to keep coming out to tell the Australian people while trying not to annoy the current Labor government, which is where the responsibility needs to sit.

Then we've got things like policies, great policies, like the gun buyback—$15 billion, Member for Hunter! Where's that going to come from? Oh, the Australian taxpayer. One more time: a terrible policy that was just simply a repeat of 1996, when John Howard was doing the right thing. Here we have a government and a Prime Minister who have made a decision for gun buybacks because he wanted to cover over a massacre that should never have happened on his watch. The fact is this government is responsible. It needs to take responsibility. We will continue to work to make it take that responsibility seriously.

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